[ad_1]
Alexander Volkov has plenty of wins on his UFC CV, but arguably no more impressive than his arrival on Saturday night.
Taking on Alistair Overeem in the main event of UFC Vegas 18, Volkov staged a striking clinic as he parted the former K-1 Grand Prix champion on the feet before finally connecting with a brutal left hook. which ended the fight. As soon as Volkov’s punch landed, Overeem collapsed to the ground and that was enough for referee Jason Herzog to stop the fight.
The stop came at 2:06 in the second lap.
“I feel great, I feel really excited,” Volkov said after his second consecutive victory. “It’s my time. I work a lot with my jab with my strike and I also work a lot with wrestling but I feel good in the stand up.
“I feel like I could finish it in the second or maybe the third round. I saw his face, he has a lot of cuts and blood. I was just expecting a good punch. This is not the end of my form, I will be better. “
With two heavy hitters in the cage, there was no room for error with Volkov stalking Overeem through the octagon with his long reach, which included a stiff lead jab. As Overeem came back to the top with a strong left hand, Volkov was just pouring out punishment with cluster punches as he looked to overwhelm the former title contender on his feet.
Volkov’s constant attacks on the feet left Overeem struggling to find any kind of counters and by the end of the first round he had blood running down his face thanks to the extreme precision of the Russian strikes.
It was all about Volkov’s fundamentals as he continued to score Overeem with the same smooth left-right combination that “The Demolition Man” just couldn’t defend.
Once Overeem started backing up against the cage, Volkov smelled blood in the water and he just showed up with blitz suits but never allowing himself to take a punch in return. Finally with Overeem stunned and confused, Volkov cracked him up with that last left hook that stopped the fight.
Volkov is now 3-1 in his last four fights, his only loss being a decision against Curtis Blaydes last June. Although he knows a title shot is not next for him, the 32-year-old heavyweight contender has made it clear that he remains his end goal and is one more step after the victory against Overeem.
“Of course I want to fight for the belt,” Volkov said. “But we’ll see. We have good fights in the future at heavyweights. We’ll see where I fit in, but I definitely want to try for the title.
[ad_2]
Source link