Anatoly Malykhin, the two-division ONE Championship titleholder, in an exclusive interview with Telecomasia.net, evaluated Alexander Volkov’s performance in his fight against Jailton Almeida at UFC 321.
"I saw Volkov’s victory in the fight against Almeida, without a doubt. I was surprised that Jailton took Volkov down quite easily, not many people manage to do it. Volkov has fought many grapplers and had pretty good takedown defense, but in this fight something went wrong.
However, Alexander showed he can work effectively while on his back and basically did so well, creating threats. He also tried to be aggressive standing up. What I like about Volkov is that he is always composed in the fight, sharp, quick-witted, constantly attacking. Few are capable of handling such a fight with Alexander. They try to dominate him on the ground, hold him against the cage, but nobody likes that style nowadays.
"Wrestling used to be highly valued by judges. Now all promotions prioritize entertainment. Because of this, the victory was awarded to Alexander. Almeida’s kind of wrestling, without strikes or attempts to finish, is not what anyone wants to see. Alexander wanted to win more, threw more strikes, took action, while his opponent mostly controlled him,” Malykhin said.
The fight between Alexander Volkov and Jailton Almeida took place at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi, UAE. “Drago” won by split decision. Volkov’s record stands at 39 wins and 11 losses. Almeida has won 22 of 26 professional fights.
