Alexander Volkov doubts Alistair Overeem fight goes distance: 'I can catch him making a mistake'
With a combined 66 finishes on their resumes, Alexander Volkov envisions a stoppage of Alistair Overeem.
Volkov (32-8 MMA, 6-2 UFC) faces Overeem (47-18 MMA, 12-7 UFC) in the UFC Fight Night 184 headliner on Feb. 6, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
In a battle of two of the heavyweight division’s most diverse and prolific finishers, Volkov is looking to score another over someone he’s looked up to for years.
“Alistair Overeem used to be one of my favorite fighters when I was at the beginning of my professional career,” Volkov told MMA Junkie. “Surely, we have different styles, but I’ve always been impressed by his physical power, the ability to deliver accurate and hard punches, as well as his work in the clinch.
“In this regard, I know his strengths and weaknesses very well. Lately, he has worked more economically, but nevertheless, he remains just as dangerous. It is unlikely that our fight will last all five rounds. I’m sure I can catch him making a mistake.”
Volkov, who’s split his past four appearances, is coming off a second-round finish of Walt Harris at UFC 254 in October. Prior to that, he suffered a frustrating loss to Curtis Blaydes, where he was outgrappled over the course of five rounds.
But Volkov chalks up that loss to having an incomplete training camp, where he was forced to train at home due to the restrictions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Primarily I’ve had the chance to train in a gym since the time of my fight vs. Curtis Blaydes,” Volkov said. “During lockdown in Moscow, I had to train at home. I developed strong functional skills and had lots of strength to conduct a five-round fight. But I didn’t have what the bout required – wrestling and sparring sessions in the gym. When training for the fight against Walt Harris, I followed our strategy of 2018 with a focus on the development of physical conditioning and allocation of more time to wrestling.”
