Alexander Volkov has watched the UFC build the Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane interim heavyweight title fight at UFC Freedom 250, and he has a pointed take on what it actually represents, both for the sport and for himself as a potential future opponent.
Speaking with MMA Fighting ahead of his UFC 328 bout against Waldo Cortes-Acosta this Saturday in Newark, Volkov acknowledged the commercial logic behind the booking while being blunt about what it is not.
“It doesn’t matter who wins. If Ciryl Gane wins, he will beat a UFC star. He will go on the next media level. If Alex Pereira wins, he won like third title in his career, so he will be good. Anyway, UFC won with this fight. And it will be for sure not like a boring fight, but it’s not true title fight. It’s more like a promotional or media fight.”
He also pointed to a specific technical concern about how both fighters have been protected from wrestling throughout their careers, suggesting the matchup is convenient for that reason too.
“Gane has never been under the pressure of a wrestler. He never been with the kind of Curtis Blaydes guy who just can take him down and hold it for a while and then beat him up, make good ground-and-pound. We never see him in this position. The UFC gives him pretty comfortable fighters. And Alex Pereira is also a kickboxing guy and we didn’t see him also with good wrestlers. This fight is good for both of them.”
Volkov took issue with the path Pereira took to earn the heavyweight title shot, noting that his victory over Magomed Ankalaev in his most recent light heavyweight appearance came against an opponent who was competing with broken ribs.
“Alex Pereira, for sure he’s very talented and he shows, like, crazy performances. But, to be honest, his previous fight, before he won, he lost to Ankalaev. Then he beat Ankalaev, but I was in this camp, and Ankalaev was with broken ribs. He was just too confident himself to go in the cage. And probably Alex Pereira knows this and this is why he pushes so hard. He just lost to the guy, then he beats him with just broken rib, and now he wants to go one category up, where he never fought, and they give him title shot. In logic, it doesn’t have any sense. It’s just marketing.”
Looking at a hypothetical matchup between himself and Pereira, Volkov was direct about how he sees the size and stylistic dynamics playing out.
“Fighting with Alex Pereira will be more easy for me, but more big fight if he won. He’s big, but I’m huge. I’m not saying he ever meet the guys like me and his stand is a little bit open for this type of big guys. He’s used to fight with guys who try to attack him, can’t touch him and he counterpunches with his hook or uppercut, but it’s so hard to do with me because I’m much taller, I have good reach and I have very good kicks. More to this now, I’m working with a lot of wrestling. On paper, I feel I have an advantage against Alex Pereira.”
Volkov reserved his strongest words for how the entire situation has affected Tom Aspinall, calling the undisputed champion’s circumstances the most unfair element of the whole picture.
“Honestly, I’m most upset for Tom Aspinall. Imagine him in this situation. He did so much work for the UFC, he fought a lot of fights. He was on a very good winning streak, he showed really impressive fights for everybody. And now we have Ciryl Gane, a guy who actually lost to me. He lose the fight for me, he injured Aspinall. It’s a very serious injury. I feel how bad Tom Aspinall is feeling looking at this White House fight and then they give Ciryl Gane the biggest fight in his life with Alex Pereira. It’s just not fair to the champ.”
Volkov fights Cortes-Acosta on the UFC 328 main card this Saturday at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.