"I need to trust myself more": Volkov on the fight with Harris, the fight for the UFC belt and the problems on the way to Abu Dhabi

- In the last fight you lost to American Curtis Blades.

What was the courage to bear from that defeat?

- The main lesson I learned is that I need to trust myself more, my feelings.

I was in really good shape then.

But some things stopped me for some reason, I didn't go through a full training camp, and I didn't manage to show everything that I am capable of.

For example, after the end of the fight, I practically did not feel tired.

But this realization came to me only in the last rounds.

Before that, for some reason I thought that if I acted in full force, I would lose strength too quickly.

I don’t know why my thoughts were focused on this.

That is why it is important to believe in yourself, your endurance and be more aggressive.

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- As I said, then I was in good shape.

I didn't want to lose her, so I asked the promotion to organize a new fight for me as soon as possible.

I started my training camp right after returning to Moscow.

Although in the USA we had to stay two weeks longer, because we had a long story with canceled flights.

But in the end I came home and started preparing from the very first day.

- Are you satisfied with the

opponent

- It will be a good fight.

Harris is one of the best fighters the promotion has to offer, given that most heavyweights are also fighting during this time.

In addition, he has a big name in mixed martial arts, this guy has good striking technique.

- Walt claims that he has the best striking technique in the heavy division ...

- It's funny that every heavyweight considers himself the best drummer, because each of us has a really strong punch.

Ask anyone - Derrick Lewis, Francis Ngannu, Alistair Overeem, Junior Dos Santos - all will answer the same thing.

So it's not very fair.

But first of all, we all believe only in ourselves.

And I am no exception.

Victory depends on many factors: how you prepared for the fight, how well you studied your opponent, how you think in the octagon.

Therefore, every single fight is a challenge.

Yes, Walt is a great drummer with good technique, but let's see how the fight develops.

- Harris also lost in his last fight with Overeem, although it seemed that he had a chance of winning ...

- Yes, he had a good fight.

Executed a good blow, knocked down Alistair.

Some referees could have already stopped the fight ahead of schedule.

But, unfortunately for him, this did not happen.

And when Overeem returned, he was on Harris, it seemed to me that he did not demonstrate his will.

This means that it can be "broken" if you start to dominate in any position.

He put all his efforts into the ground and pound.

He was not knocked out, but he stopped doing anything - he just lay there and waited for the referee to stop the fight, although he was not severely damaged.

This is what I personally learned from that fight.

That is, I need to put pressure on him, at the same time dodge his aggressive blows.

- At the moment, the heavyweight champion is Stipe Miocic, but Blades also has a claim on the belt.

Given your defeat, do you think you still pose a threat to the division?

- I think yes.

Of course, I took a small step back, but before my eyes there are a lot of examples when fighters lose, but come back and become champions.

Besides, I didn't lose to Curtis on all fronts.

On the contrary, I did a lot of damage to him, although I myself did not receive any injuries.

After the fight, I easily ran ten kilometers.

Of course, I'll go for the belt.

But now I need to be honest with myself, to win several victories in order to prove to everyone that I am ready for this.

- You said that during the flight to the UAE you also encountered some problems.

What happened?

- It seems to me that everyone who is now leaving Russia for Abu Dhabi is talking about some problems.

This is due to the fact that some airlines require a visa or UAE citizenship, because they do not know that we are fighters and are flying here for the UFC tournament.

Therefore, it takes a long time to explain to them, to contact ticket sellers.

As far as I remember, one or two of our flights were canceled, so the journey took a little longer than planned.

For example, it took me 24-25 hours to get from my house to "Boytsovsky Island".

Yes, I was a little tired, but after two days of quarantine I already felt rested

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