UFC heavyweight Alexander Volkov takes on Sergei Pavlovich at UFC Saudi Arabia on Saturday, but the twist many people don’t know is that the two are actually good friends.
“He’s tough opponent. A little bit scary to fight him honestly. He was here you saw how big he is, saw big arms,” Volkov told reporters on Thursday.
“Better don’t ask about him. I get nervous.”
Volkov (37-10) was joking, but he’s right about the fact that his opponent on Saturday is tough, big, and skilled. The two have even trained and sparred together, but for Volkov the details are a bit hazy.
“I’m trying to (remember) something, but I can’t. I didn’t remember any sparring. I just remember how it starts and then, like a black hole, I didn’t remember anything. I didn’t have any video,” he said.
Pavlovich is coming off losing his first interim title opportunity to Tom Aspinall at UFC 295 last November. Volkov knows he’s got a tough task up ahead.
“I will be real lucky to have some chance for lucky punch of for something,” he said.
“I believe in myself. Sometimes you don’t know how you can do something, but you believe in yourself. The same feeling. I believe I can do (it).”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Alexander Volkov above. He takes on Sergei Pavlovich at UFC Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
