There’s a new threat to the UFC heavyweight division, and his name is Alexander Volkov.
The Russian striker scored the biggest win of his career in a dominant performance on Saturday night that ended with a round of 16 against Alistair Overeem.
Although Overeem has received major awards for his kickboxing, Volkov put together a master class of hitting when he steamed Overeem from the start of the fight.
Volkov put pressure on early when Overeem went into grenade defense when his back was along the fence. Overeem’s strategy gave Volkov the opportunity to prevail against the former PRIDE and Strikeforce champion. The increasing pressure resulted in Overeem taking significant damage after a round, although there was little he could do, but occasionally fired an overhand left.
Volkov’s confidence grew in the second, but he stayed ready and picked his places. He stunned Overeem with his blows and kept him off balance with the occasional kick.
Volkov felt that the end was near after seriously injuring Overeem with a right hand in the middle. He patiently stabbed his opponent with hard right and left hands. As Overeem stumbled, Volkov put a left hand around the guard and placed Overeem on his hands and knees in the center of the octagon. There was no reason for Volkov to pounce on his fallen opponent. The fight was called at 2:06 am of Round 2.
The win, Volkov’s second in a row, puts him in a position to move up to the top half of the heavyweight division. As for Overeem, he may need to take the time to think about his future in MMA at the age of 40.
Cory Sandhagen scored first place in the knockout of the year against Frankie Edgar
What could Sandhagen do for an encore after a knockout by Marlon Moraes on the highlight role? One with a jumping knee KO of Edgar in the co-main event.
In a matter of seconds, Sandhagen scored the early leader for Knockout of the Year against the former lightweight champion and placed next in the March featherweight showdown between champion Petr Yan and challenger Aljamain Sterling.
Sandhagen has been spectacular since it was dominated by Sterling last June. His spinning wheel kick finish from former title contender Moraes last October raised more than a few eyebrows. But his 28-second Edgar wreck surely put the entire MMA world in the know.
Edgar tried to use his wrestling to put Sandhagen on his back. When Sandhagen sensed that Edgar was going to shoot a double-leg takedown, he jumped into action and fired a jumping knee that knocked Edgar unconscious before he even hit the canvas.
The win has brought Sandhagen 7-1 since his UFC debut in 2018. His current run shows that he is ready for the winner of Yan-Sterling.
“I’ve been a different monster since I lost to Aljamain Sterling,” said Sandhagen. “He thought a couple of lessons for me. I know Yan talked about fighting TJ (Dillashaw) after that fight; if he wins this fight at all
“This is rubbish for me. Fight me. I’m the toughest guy next to Aljamain. And if Aljamain wins, I owe him a nap and he will take that nap. The winner of these two will be knocked out by me in July.” “”
