Alexander Volkov wants his shot at gold after his latest win over Rizvan Kuniev at UFC 333 on Saturday.
Already near the top of the heavyweight division, Volkov showed off superior striking and a late submission attempt to thwart Kuniev’s attempt at the upset. Volkov ultimately outdueled his fellow heavyweight in all aspects of the fight with the judges giving scores reading 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 in his favor.
Now Volkov likely awaits the outcome of Ciryl Gane vs. Josh Hokit in November with hopes of getting the winner.
“Good fight,” Volkov said about his performance. “I have a question for Dana White? I just started my professional career and I have about 20 fights in the UFC. What do I need to do for a title shot?”
Kuniev immediately started throwing kicks at his taller opponent but Volkov had no problem firing back with some of his own. Volkov then started tossing out a lead jab and more kicks to keep Kuniev at a distance.
That led to some aggression from Kuniev but Volkov weathered the storm and backed him off with some strikes of his own. Volkov was then constantly moving forward trying to chip away at Kuniev throughout the opening round.
In the second round, Volkov snapped off a great left jab that stabbed at Kuniev as his fellow Russian kept trying to close the distance. Volkov was able to fend him off and deliver more strikes as they battled for position.
While Kuniev started to take more risks, Volkov maintained his stance and just kept popping him with solid strikes on the feet.
With five minutes remaining, Volkov stung Kuniev with a calf-kick and then went back up top with more jabs. But Kuniev fired back with a spinning back fist that landed, although Volkov ate the damaging blow without any issue.
A late grappling exchange led to Volkov snatching the back and locking on a rear-naked choke with Kuniev defending well. Volkov couldn’t get under the chin so he kept trying for the submission but Kuniev survived to the final horn.
Volkov now has three wins in a row and it’s going to be hard to deny him a shot at the belt unless Tom Aspinall makes his comeback. Otherwise, the Russian has seemingly done everything possible to earn that opportunity after Gane vs. Hokit.