Alexander Volkov has many wins on his UFC resume, but arguably no more impressive than his Saturday night finish.
Volkov took on Alistair Overeem in the UFC Vegas 18 main event and provided a standout clinic when he picked the former K-1 Grand Prix champion on his feet before finally connecting with a brutal left hook that ended the fight. As soon as Volkov’s punch landed, Overeem simply crashed to the ground and that was enough for referee Jason Herzog to stop the match.
The stoppage came at 2:06 p.m. in the second round.
“I feel great, I feel very excited,” said Volkov after his second straight win. “It’s my turn. I work a lot with my jab with my stroke and I also work a lot with wrestling but I feel good in the stand-up.
“I have the feeling that I can finish him in the second or perhaps the third round. I saw his face, he has a lot of cuts and blood. I was just waiting for 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 hurling Overeem over the octagon with his long reach, including a stiff lead jab. While Overeem came back over the top with a hard overhand left, Volkov simply poured over the penalty with thrusts in ropes as he seemed to overwhelm the former title contender on the feet.
Volkov’s constant attacks on the feet caused Overeem to struggle to find any kind of counters and at the end of the opening round, blood flowed down his face thanks to the pinpoint accuracy of the Russian attacks.
It was all about Volkov’s basics as he continued to tag Overeem with the same slick left-right combination that “The Demolition Man” just couldn’t defend.
Once Overeem started walking backwards against the cage, Volkov smelled blood in the water and he just stepped forward with amazing combinations but never allowed himself to take a punch back. Finally with Overeem dazed and confused, Volkov cracked him with that last left hook that stopped the fight.
Volkov is now 3-1 in his last four fights and his only loss came in a decision against Curtis Blaydes last June. While he knows that a title shot isn’t his next, the 32-year-old heavyweight contender made it clear that this remains his end goal and he’s one step closer to winning over Overeem.
“Sure, I want to fight for the belt,” said Volkov. ‘But we’ll see. We have some good heavyweight fights in the future. We’ll see what my place will be, but I definitely want to take a title photo. “