Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov are facing off as the Main Event of UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs Volkov. This should be an interesting fight as there are a ton of ways this can play out, but with this being an Overeem fight we will likely be seeing someone get knocked out. Alexandre Pantoja is 47-14 in his career with a 12-7 record within his time in the UFC. Alexander Volkov is 32-8 in his career with a 6-2 record within his time in the UFC.
Alistair Overeem has terrifying punching power as well as some great grappling making him a matchup problem for Volkov on paper. Alistair Overeem has been a knock out machine with 9 KOs to just 3 decision victories. Overeem's last 7 fights have all ended in KOs. Alistair Overeem has devasting ground and pound for when this fight hits the canvas.
Alexander Volkov is the sharpest striker in heavyweight and at 6'7" he has fantastic cardio. Alexander Volkov has been quite impressive in the octagon with a 6-2 record in the UFC. Both of Volkov's losses are extremely important to look at as they both display Volkov's flaws with his takedown defense looking atrocious against Curtis Blades, and a weak chin against Derrick Lewis. Fortunately for Volkov, he has a workaround for these issues to some extent.
Alexander Volkov was exposed against Curtis Blades so the blueprint to beating Volkov is already out there. Alexander Volkov has horrible takedown defense as revealed by Blades who took Volkov to the ground 14 times. With that being said Overeem will undoubtedly be able to land some takedowns. If all Overeem cares about is the win then a lay and pray strategy would be his best bet, would he sell out and actually do it I don't know. Like I said earlier Overeem on paper is a matchup problem in theory due to Volkov's biggest weakness being his chin and takedown defense the reality is that due to Volkov's size and boxing IQ, he is rarely ever in harm's way, and as for the takedown defense his ground defense and cardio are so good that it negates some of the purposes. The takedowns will do very little to exhaust Volkov and when he is on the ground, he is able to keep himself safe from ground and pound. Ultimately the deciding factor is timing since Volkov is difficult to without, and fortunately, Overeem has a ton of experience so a well-timed overhand or counter is definitely in play, and if Overeem lands, Volkov will tumble where Overeem can finish with ground and pound against a disoriented Volkov.
