On March 17th, the UFC makes their way back to the O2 Arena in London, England for one of the most important heavyweight fights of the year in Fabricio Werdum vs. Alexander Volkov. In a fight that could very well determine the next in line for a shot at the heavyweight championship, former UFC Heavyweight Champion Fabricio Werdum hopes to continue his road back to the gold with a win over former Bellator Champion Alexander Volkov.
With the betting odds favoring Werdum, I have tasked myself with taking a closer look at the fight and doing my best Nostradamus to see if the Vegas bookies got it right. So join me as I determine who leaves the London one step closer to UFC gold.
First we take a look at the former Bellator and M-1 Global Heavyweight Champion, none other than Drago himself, Alexander Volkov. Since late 2016, Volkov has compiled himself a nice little streak of wins in the UFC’s most dangerous division, with the most notable being a fantastic showing against Stefan Struve.
The toughest fight to date in the UFC for the 29 year old Russian, Drago was able to show that he indeed can live up to his namesake by walking through some of the Struve’s best combinations. That night, not even an unending barrage of eyepokes from Struve could stop Volkov from climbing up in the UFC Heavyweight rankings. With his back against the cage, Struve was clipped by straights and uppercuts that proved to be the finishing blows from the Russian. It was the striking from Volkov that stood out against Struve and will prove as one of the deciding factors against Werdum.
While Werdum has been known to throw a flying knee or a head kick on occasion, the former champion tends to stick to the basics when it comes to striking, which isn’t a bad game plan as some of his notable wins show. Volkov may be the more well rounded on the feet, so in order for him to keep his UFC record blemish free the Russian will need to use his accuracy and make Werdum keep the fight standing. Both men do excellent jobs at controlling the center of the octagon, but Werdum tends to use his striking as a chance to get his opponent to the cage and implement takedowns.
To say Werdum likes when a fight goes to the ground is an understatement. You might be harder pressed to find another fighter in the heavyweight division who is more comfortable on the ground, or for that matter, more dangerous when a fight hits the ground. With 11 submission victories, it’s not much of a surprise that Werdum’s path to victory will be testing the Russian’s submission skills.
Usually when determining fight odds, people tend to look at age as a factor, but Werdum proved in his last two bouts that even at 40, the former champion still has plenty left in the tank. One of his more spectacular performances in the octagon came at UFC 216 against Walt Harris, where Werdum showed how truly dominant he can be. 1 minute. In the time it takes some people to brush their teeth, Werdum was able to take Harris down to the mat and secure an armbar. If this Werdum shows up on March 17th, Volkov could be in a world of trouble.
And according to Vegas, that is most likely what will happen. Werdum, as of the time of this article, is the slight favorite over the Russian. You would almost have to be a fool to bet against him, and after much deliberation…
I agree with Vegas. The first official prediction in what will hopefully be a long and cherished tradition on KwinnPop, I am going to go with Werdum securing a submission victory over Volkov. While Volkov technically has more fights under his belt, I don’t know how well he would do in such a high stakes fight such as this one, against someone the caliber of Werdum. While there is a chance that Drago could shock the world in London, especially if he uses his striking how he did against Struve, Werdum feels like too big of a test too soon.
Do you agree with my prediction? Or do you see things going down just a bit differently between Werdum/Volkov? If so, comment below and be sure to check back after UFC London for a detailed breakdown of the main event where I’ll take a look at the fallout from the night of fights.