Alexander Volkov had a long order for him for his first UFC headliner.
The #3-ranking Russian competition has been a staple of the UFC Heavyweight Division for almost a decade and fights twice with all-comers from interim champion Tom Aspinall to Ciryl Gane.
Aspinall and Gane are the only hunters that Volkov has lost in his last 10 fights. Alexander Volkov has an impressive record of 12-5 in the UFC and has won four of his last five.
Volkov went to the UFC in 2016 and started his run with four straight victories, two of which were most important events for the 6'7 ″ heavyweight.
The division was warned at highly when 'Drago' crushed the highest hunter in the UFC history in less than a year after his UFC debut.
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Alexander Volkov brought down 'Skyscraper' Stefan Struve in 2017
On 2 September 2017, Volkov was linked to the 7FT Lange Stefan Struve in the main event of UFC Rotterdam. The fight would fall as the highest fight in company history.
Faced with a 4.5 -inch range, the 6'7 ″ Volkov had some problems against Struve in the opening frame of their heavyweight fight. Struve had his moments in round 1 while he opened a huge cut under the eye of Volkov with a knee.
Volkov immediately shot in for a Takedown, which means that Struve pays with soil and pound strikes at the end of the round.
Volkov grabbed more momentum in round 2 and hit Struve's head back with punches.
The Russian really stored the heat in the third round when Volkov Struve pushed back to the cage with stairs to the body. Volkov bought his opponent and fired a swarm of strikes that moved Struve to the canvas.
Volkov took Momentum in round 2 and found his shots.
Volkov pushed Struve to the cage with stairs to the body and loaded a combination of strikes that pushed Struve to the canvas for the TKO victory.
Alexander Volkov says that his 'time is going' to capture the UFC title
At the age of 36, Volkov believes that his championship window is being closed for reasons outside of his control.
The heavyweight division has two champions in Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall, the interim title holder. Jones has not been so interested in combating Aspinall and chooses to combat the 42-year-old former Champ Stipe Miocic on UFC 309 in November.
While Aspinall keeps waiting for Jones, Volkov and the rest of the division do that too.
“My chances of fighting for the championship title are getting smaller, and time is getting up,” Volkov said about the Jones vs. Aspinall delays in an interview with Championat.
“In other weight classes there is a real conveyor belt of fighting. That is why I am unhappy.
“I would have had the chance to test myself long ago in a title fight like Jones was not,” Volkov added.
Volkov comes from a controversial split decision loss for Ciryl Gane at UFC 310 in a fight that many fans thought the Russian had won.