Alexander Volkov wins a unanimous decision over Sergei Pavlovich at UFC Saudi Arabia. The rising contender and veteran of the division continued his win streak and extending Pavlovich’s losing streak.
Alexander Volkov vs Sergei Pavlovich
Round 1 essentially set the tone of how this fight was going to go. Volkov established his range utilisng his jab and kicks making sure to stay out of Pavlovichs range. In the meantime Pavlovich looked to pressure Volkov throwing single shots or 2 punch combinations. It’s here we first saw that Pavlovich was uncharacteristically reluctant to throw. By the end of the round Pavlovich had acquired a bloody nose curtsey of Volkov repeatedly landing his jab. This also saw Pavlovich go past round 1 for the first time in the UFC.
Round 2 saw Volkov continue to use his range effectively, increasingly damaging Pavlovich’s face. Pavlovich also started to tire slowing down in his pursuit of a still fresh Volkov. Again, Pavlovich didn’t really commit to any extended combinations and struggled with Volkov’s range.
Round 3 Pavlovich continued to plod forward despite his fatigue throwing even less than prior rounds. Volkov continued to pick at Pavlovich from range who would occasionally have a burst of energy which quickly disappeared. As the round wore on Volkov began landing more on Pavlovich stunning the big man towards the end of the round. Volkov was awarded a unanimous decision.
This win for Volkov is big extending an already impressive win streak and gets him into the top 3 in the division. The last time Volkov lost was to interim champ Aspinall in 2022 who finished him and Pavlovich in 1 round. So if Aspinall successfully defends against Blaydes a rematch against Aspinall does make sense although ideally Aspinall vs Jones should be next.
For Pavlovich it seems the loss to Aspinall has made him gun shy and less willing to commit to combinations. His technical limitations and stamina issues have also been exposed. However, he is still very dangerous and a fight against Gane or Almeida would make sense.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
