Russian heavyweight Alexander Volkov, in an exclusive interview with Telecomasia.net, assessed his opponent Jailton Almeida, who he will face on October 25 in Abu Dhabi at UFC 321.
“On paper, Almeida looks decent on the ground during fights, he grapples well. I’ve improved in that area too. I train, I’m working on it. I’ve even competed in some grappling tournaments. The gym where I train specializes in jiu-jitsu and grappling. I spend a lot of time working on wrestling. The fight is going to show everything. It will be tough, but not so much that I can’t handle it. If I get a chance, I’ll try to knock him out. If not, we’ll wrestle on the ground. It all depends on his form and his plan. Almeida is a pretty readable fighter. He does repetitive things. So, it’s important what he brings to the fight.
His statistics don’t intimidate me. I haven’t seen him face especially strong opponents that would make the stats intimidating. There’ve been some guys, but no outstanding fights.
“Yes, few use grappling and ground wrestling like he does in the heavyweight division. But it mostly depends on who he fights. His opponents haven’t shown a good level of grappling. For example, his win by decision over Derrick Lewis – he wore him down for four rounds but he didn’t do much damage. Lewis’s wrestling isn’t at a high level. You need to evaluate the actual fights, not the stats, and his record doesn’t scare me. His opposition hasn’t been very impressive,” Volkov said.
Alexander has 38 wins and 11 losses and is ranked in the top 3 of the heavyweight division. Almeida has won 22 of his 25 professional fights and is currently ranked fifth in the heavyweight rankings.
