Alexander Volkov deserves to fight for the UFC heavyweight title next
Alexander Volkov has been dealt an unfair hand in recent years, but he is now as deserving as anyone for a UFC heavyweight title shot.
An Alexander Volkov heavyweight title shot is long overdue. He's done everything asked of him and isn't getting any younger. It's time for the UFC to do right by him and book him to fight the winner of the Ciryl Gane vs. Josh Hokit title fight at some point in 2027.
The time is now for an Alexander Volkov title shot
Alexander Volkov is on a three-fight win streak, with his most recent win being a unanimous decision over a dangerous Rizvan Kuniev this past weekend at UFC 333. Prior to that, he had beaten Waldo Cortes-Acosta via unanimous decision at UFC 328, and Jailton Almeida in a split-decision at UFC 321. All three men were on win streaks of their own at the time, with both Cortes-Acosta and Almeida once being regarded as future contenders in the heavyweight division. Yet, Volkov's three-fight win streak doesn't tell the full story, because he should actually be on an 8-fight win streak, and it all goes back to the robbery against current heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane.
Both men clashed at UFC 310, with Volkov on a four-fight win streak that consisted of three finishes, with Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Alexander Romanov, Tai Tuivasa, and Sergei Pavlovich on his list of conquests. The bout with Gane was a rematch of a then three-year-old encounter from UFC Vegas 30, which Gane had won in a comfortable unanimous decision. Their rematch, however, couldn't have gone any differently. Volkov kept Gane on the backfoot with jabs and front kicks, making 'Bon Gamin' uncomfortable with his longer range, even outwrestling him, yet in the end, the judges got it wrong, awarding Gane a split-decision win that even he was confused about based on his reaction to the result's announcement. Gane didn't even dare celebrate the win in the cage.
Immediately after the fight, UFC president Dana White recognized the robbery that had unfolded before his eyes, before promising Volkov that the UFC would take care of him. Yet, Gane was gifted two title fights and is now the UFC heavyweight champion, while Volkov had to take on a horrible stylistic matchup against Almeida, then fight Cortes-Acosta, before facing Kuniev. Volkov's frustration was such that he popped up as an audience member at the UFC 333 pre-fight presser to ask White what he can do to become a UFC champion. He asked a similar question in his post-fight interview, and most MMA world is now backing him for a title fight.
There's no one else who is even remotely as deserving as him. Tom Aspinall is out of commission due to complications with his eye. Pavlovich is currently booked to face Alex Pereira at UFC 335, with 'Poatan' coming off a second-round TKO loss to Gane at UFC Freedom 250, and Josh Hokit is already set to face Gane for the belt at UFC 334. Volkov should be next, he's done enough, and there's even a storyline behind it if Gane beats Hokit at UFC 334, which he likely will.
