Power difference: Volkov lost to Blades at UFC Las Vegas

Alexander Volkov and Curtis Blades were not only participants in the main fight of the evening, but, in fact, were the only stars of the UFC on ESPN 11. As a week ago, matchmakers of the Absolute Fighting Championship could not please the audience with a powerful roster of participants, but this time they tried to compensate This is the bright conclusion to the show. The increased attention to the duel between the Russian and the American was due not only to their high position in the heavy weight rating (seventh and third numbers, respectively), but also to the clash of styles. The confrontation between the fighter and the drummer is not only considered classic, but still causes great interest among the public.

In anticipation of the fight, many factors did not speak in favor of Volkov. Firstly, over the course of his career, he repeatedly experienced serious problems with fighters, in the battles with which he suffered almost all of his seven defeats. Secondly, in connection with the coronavirus pandemic, Alexander’s camp turned out to be crumpled. He could start working with a trainer only in the final part, and most of the time he was forced to train at home. In such circumstances, preparing for a meeting with a counterpart like the Blades is extremely difficult, if not impossible.

In conditions of self-isolation, Volkov had little opportunity to find an athletic enough sparring partner to imitate Curtis. In addition, the American had an advantage in power. The day before the battle, his body weight was 118.4 kilograms with a heavy category limit of 120. The Russian turned out to be six kilograms lighter.

Another help for the American was a reduced cell in the UFC Apex arena, in which the fight was to take place. This octagon is less than the standard one and a half meters (7.62 instead of 9.144), which should also be an advantage for the wrestler. Not surprisingly, this became noticeable already in the eighth second of the fight, when the Blades instantly reduced the distance and held the first takedown. As a result, for the first five-minute period, he transferred Volkov to canvas four times, but he did not succeed in switching to the firm ground and pound. Alexander was very calm and did not allow himself to create serious problems, competently controlling his vis-a-vis hands.

The second five-minute turned out to be much more disappointing for Volkov. The first 40 seconds, the athletes exchanged stances, but the superiority of the Russian was not felt. Over the past years, the Blades have made significant progress in striking techniques, as demonstrated by bombarding the enemy with sharp jabs and straight lines. As soon as Alexander began to grope for distance, he immediately appeared on the floor. Moreover, if in the first segment he managed to prevent the American from throwing himself on his back, this time he nevertheless achieved his goal. Until the end of the round, the Russian had to hold in a blank defense under a hail of elbow strikes.

The third segment of the fight also can hardly be called successful for Volkov, but some progress has been outlined in his actions. So, he did not allow himself to be fixed in the stalls, and he completely blocked the first two attempts to get into his legs. In the actions of Blades, fatigue became more and more noticeable. He was breathing harder every minute, and his takedowns became noticeably slower. Nevertheless, five minutes remained behind him and put Alexander in a difficult position. After it became clear that to gain the upper hand by the decision he had practically no chance.

This was finally confirmed by the fourth round. The fighters solidly slowed down, but the Blades continued to send counter-visions to the floor over and over again. By the middle of the penultimate five-minute period, there were 12 takedowns in his asset - one more than the best result in the history of heavy weight. Prior to this, Kane Velazquez laid 11 times on the flooring of Junior Dos Santos in their rematch at UFC 155.

Nevertheless, the ending was left to Volkov. In the last minute, he first succeeded in the stance and nearly knocked his opponent down, and then threw him to the ground. Moreover, Alexander did not just hook Curtis, but even managed to raise him above the floor. By this, he surprised not only the journalists and coaches gathered in the arena, but also Blades himself.

Here's the Blaydes vs. Volkov scorecard. Two judges had Volkov winning the fourth and fifth rounds. # UFCVegas3pic.twitter.com / 05RIPnpWi8

To win, Volkov needed a knockout, and he expectedly went ahead. For a minute, he interrupted the tired Blades in the rack and was ready to develop success, but he again took advantage of the “physics”. Although his takedowns weren’t so swift, the difference in power helped him to put his opponent on canvas twice more. Alexander got up and continued to attack again, and overall looked more impressive in the final round. However, Curtis spent the last 80 seconds on top and removed all questions about the triumph.

According to the results of five rounds, all three judges expectedly sided with the Blades - 49:46, 48:46, 48:47. At the same time, Sal D'Amato and Chris Lee gave Volkov the last two segments.

Curtis won his fourth consecutive victory and strengthened his status as one of the main contenders for the title. Volkov, however, suffered a second defeat in the UFC and missed a chance to break into the top 5 division. Nevertheless, Alexander turned out to be noticeably stronger than his opponent expected. Before the fight, the American has repeatedly stated that he intends to end the duel before the fifth round.

In almost all fights of the UFC on ESPN main card, 11 winners had to be identified by the judges. In the second most important battle of the evening, Josh Emmett defeated Shane Burgos. The fight turned out to be uncompromising and intense, as a result of which both athletes received a well-deserved $ 50 thousand for the “Fight of the evening”. Former contender for the bantamweight title Raquel Pennington turned out to be stronger than Marion Renault, and Belal Muhammad dealt with Lyman Goode. Meanwhile, veteran Jim Miller, with the help of a beautiful barn, dealt with Roosevelt Roberts and came out on the third place in the history of the championship in terms of the number of wins by surrender (10). The same is with the legendary Royce Gracie, and in front there are only two more Brazilians - Demian Maya (11) and Charles Oliveira (14).

In the preliminary card, Justin Jaynes, Gillian Robertson and Marc-Andre Bario were marked with bright early victories, but the first fight of the evening was the most discussed. After the second round, Max Rohskopf decided to abandon the continuation of the battle with Austin Hubbard. Despite two successful takedowns, he performed more than three times fewer hits (17 vs. 59) and suffered serious damage. In the interval between five minutes, he asked the coaches to throw out a towel, but at first they resisted. However, after a few seconds of persuasion, the mentors decided to stop the duel.