Alexander Volkov is a fighter that most consider being on the verge of getting a title shot in the UFC’s heavyweight division.
Thus, when he steps inside of the Octagon under the UFC banner coming this Saturday night at the UFC 229 pay-per-view event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada in the co-main event against fellow hard-hitting heavyweight fighter Derrick Lewis, he has to be on top of his game.
In his last fight, Volkov knocked out former UFC heavyweight champion Fabrício Werdum in the main event of UFC London event (March 17, 2018) on the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass, at The O2 Arena in London, England. Following the fight, he was calling for a title shot and going into this fight, he’s making his stance known again.
UFC President Dana White has gone on record by saying that the plan is to make Brock Lesnar vs. Daniel Cormier for the heavyweight title in January. With that timeline, Volkov hopes to fight the winner of his contest as he told MMAJunkie that he hopes to get a title shot should he beat Lewis at UFC 229.
He did acknowledge that he could get passed by in line for a title shot by the winner of Francis Ngannou vs. Curtis Blaydes.
“It’s a difficult situation. There’s Daniel Cormier, Brock Lesnar, and the winner of Francis Ngannou and Curtis Blaydes. So, either the winner of Lewis against me, or Ngannou against Blaydes, could earn the title shot. I don’t like to think about when exactly my title shot will be, but I believe that if I show a good performance, the UFC will give me the opportunity to fight the champion next. Also, we don’t know when the title shot will be for sure.
If Brock Lesnar comes back, Cormier will fight him. If Brock comes back at the end of this year, or the beginning of next, the following title shot would be in the fall of next year. That means I’d have to wait about a year if I win my next bout. After this one, I’ll probably have to fight again before I get my title shot. Nobody knows when Daniel Cormier will defend the heavyweight title again.”
