Alexander Volkov heads into UFC 321 with redemption on his mind. Just months removed from a high-profile loss to Ciryl Gane, the Russian heavyweight now faces the surging Jailton Almeida in a pivotal matchup that could determine who stays alive in the title picture. In a division rapidly evolving, Volkov enters Saturday with urgency, and a clear mission to prove he’s still elite
Volkov (38-11) is coming off a controversial split-decision loss at UFC 310 last December, a result that many fans, media members, and even UFC CEO Dana White believed should have gone his way.
“I have no worries about this. Sometimes it happens in UFC like in octagon. I was little bit upset,” Volkov told reporters including Cageside Press on Wednesday.
“First day or two, but then I got (over) it. I just work on my own skills (and) I just try to figure out what I can do better in my game. Just start training again. I just got it really easy. No problem.”
Volkov admitted that a rematch with Tom Aspinall was never seriously on the table despite the closeness of his last outing. Instead, the UFC quickly redirected his path toward the surging Brazilian contender. According to Volkov, the decision was made almost immediately after UFC 310.
“They (confirmed) the fight with Tom and Gane first. So yeah we just started to speak about my next opponent, Almeida, really soon after my last fight. We didn’t speak about fighting Tom,” Volkov said.
Watch the entire media day scrum with Alexander Volkov above. He faces Jailton Almeida at UFC 321 on Saturday.
