Alexander Volkov will fight with Greg Hardy at the UFC Fight Night tournament in Moscow. This was announced by the ESPN media holding with reference to sources close to the leadership of the Absolute Fighting Championship. So far the promotion itself has not published an official statement, but with a high degree of probability it is precisely the battle between the Russian and the American that will become one of the main events of the tournament.
Initially, Volkov was supposed to close the show with a fight with Junior dos Santos, but he was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to an infection in his leg. So, the last week, the former UFC heavyweight champion spent in the hospital, where he successfully underwent the drainage of an infected area of the body.
Volkov’s team is confident that the fight with Hardy can play into his hands. According to him, Greg is a media personality in the United States, and defeating him can increase Alexander’s popularity in the United States.
“Hardy hates almost all of America and wants to see him fly away by knockout. This will be the first time that most fans in the USA will root for Sasha, ”sportsman manager Ivan Bannikov quoted TASS as saying.
However, a possible increase in popularity is the only thing Volkov can get from this fight. Otherwise, such a development of events is extremely unfortunate for him, and for several reasons at once. Firstly, now he will have to drastically change the training process and prepare for another opponent. Secondly, unlike the illustrious dos Santos, Hardy has only six fights on a professional level, and a victory over him will not have serious significance for Alexander.
In anticipation of the tournament, dos Santos took the fourth place in the ranking of the heavy weight category, and success in a duel with him automatically made Volkov one of the three main contenders for the title. The triumph would practically block his disappointing failure in the battle with Derrick Lewis and would allow him to stand on a par with Francis Ngann and Curtis Blades. Undoubtedly, he would hardly have gotten the right to meet with Stipe Miocic before Daniel Cormier, but in the event of another win he could have become the first in the list for the title fight.
In light of this, his possible duel with Ngannu acquired particular importance. It is noteworthy that the Cameroonian expressed a desire to replace Dos Santos.
“UFC in Moscow in 18 days?” Wrote Ngannu, attaching a thoughtful smile to the message.
This fight could not only become a decoration of the tournament in the capital of Russia, but also immediately gain the status of an eliminator (a fight for the right to claim the title. - RT ). In the event of a favorable outcome, Volkov had a chance to become the first number of the division and one of the main stars of the promotion. At one time, its formation was greatly facilitated by the triumph in the battle with Fabrizio Werdum, but a victory over Ngannu would have had a much greater effect.
Cameroon is one of the most terrifying heavyweights on the planet. In his asset appears a successful series of three fights, in each of which he knocked out his counterpart. So, ex-champions dos Santos and Kane Velazquez, as well as the third number of the Curtis Blades rating, suffered from his hands.
But at the same time it cannot be called invincible. So, in 2018, he suffered two defeats in a row, first losing to Miocic in the title battle, and then to Lewis. Ngannu has a powerful blow and sent his counterparts nine times to the floor, but at the same time he has serious problems with endurance.
In a battle with him, it would be enough for Volkov to withstand the first one and a half rounds, after which he could well prevail due to freshness, tactics and constant pressure. Unlike Cameroonian, a Russian has repeatedly proved that he is able to work with the same intensity for all 15 minutes.
However, the UFC did not satisfy Ngannu's request and opted for Hardy. This decision seems controversial, at least because Greg went into the octagon just a week ago. At the tournament in Boston, he fought with the little-known Ben Sosoli and gained the upper hand by a unanimous decision of the judges, but subsequently the battle was declared invalid.
The reason for this decision was the behavior of Hardy, who used the inhaler in the interval between the second and third rounds. By this moment he was noticeably tired, but later perked up and looked fresher. Interestingly, Greg himself repeatedly requested permission to use the representative of the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission (MSAC), to which he received an affirmative answer. But later it turned out that such actions are prohibited, which was the reason for the change in the result.
It is worth noting that this scandal was far from the only one involving Hardy. In 2014, at that time, Carolina Panthers footballer Hardy was charged with domestic violence. According to police, the athlete attacked his girlfriend, strangled her and threatened with violence. The future soldier was arrested and sentenced to 60 days in prison and 18 months of probation. True, in the end he managed to avoid being behind bars, as the victim did not appear for appeal. And subsequently, the case was completely closed by reconciliation of the parties.
Despite its popularity, Hardy is more likely a newcomer to MMA and certainly not one of the candidates for the championship title. His track record includes five victories and one defeat, also resulting from the athlete’s misconduct. In the battle with Allen Crowder, he was disqualified for a knee hit in the head of an opponent who was on the floor, which is prohibited by the rules.
The American is not even one of the organization’s 15 strongest heavyweights, which is why it is Alexander who risks everything. So, a victory can provide him with a comfortable return to the octagon after a year break, but is unlikely to improve his position in the division. While defeat can permanently exclude him from the championship race.
In terms of the level of Volkov, he is superior to his counterpart, and therefore a negative result of the battle is extremely unlikely. But in heavy weight everything can be solved with just one blow, which the Russian knows firsthand. It was a second relaxation just before the gong that deprived him of a victory over Lewis and a chance to reach the elite of the division much faster.
By its decision, the UFC caused damage not only to Volkov, who lost his place in the main fight of the evening, but to the entire Moscow tournament. If initially he had at once two top-level fights, now now only the battle of Zabit Magomedsharipov and Kelvint Kattar can be considered as such. It will be he who will complete the show, but, according to the media, only three rounds will last, and not five, as expected.