Alexander Volkov picks up fourth-straight win, defeats Sergei Pavlovich in UFC Saudi Arabia co-main event
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us today, June 22, 2024, for UFC Saudi Arabia / UFC on ABC 6, going down live from the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Headlining the event is a 185 lb clash between no. 3 ranked former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker (25-7) and Ikram Aliskerov (15-1). Whittaker was originally slated to face no. 11 ranked Khamzat Chimaev in this evening’s main event, though Chimaev was forced from the bout with an illness and replaced by one of his former foes in Aliskerov.
Co-headlining the event is a heavyweight bout between no. 3 ranked former FNG heavyweight champion Sergei Pavlovich (18-3) and no. 5 ranked former Bellator and M-1 Challenge heavyweight champion Alexander Volkov (38-10).
Following defeat in his promotional debut to multi-organization world champion Alistair Overeem, Pavlovich went on to win his next six-straight fights, all via knockout, and all in the opening round, leading up to his defeat to interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall (KO) this past November.
Volkov on the other hand had really come into his own as of late, winning his last three-straight over the likes of Jairzinho Rozenstruik (TKO), Alexandr Romanov (TKO), and Tai Tuivasa (Ezekiel choke), his latest defeat also coming to Tom Aspinall (armbar).
Continue reading to see how our UFC Saudi Arabia Russia versus Russia co-main event of the evening went down:
Official Result: Alexander Volkov def. Sergei Pavlovich via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Volkov landed a good round kick to the body about one minute in before Pavlovich backed him up momentarily with a stiff jab. Volkov had the more diverse attack throughout the opening round, landing a number of both kicks and punches where Pavlovich attacked with only punches, as he usually does.
This fight marked the first time Pavlovich had been outside the opening round in his UFC career, as he’d gone 6-2 inside the promotion prior, all eight fights ending via first round knockout.
Volkov continued to dictate the pace into the second, picking Pavlovich apart with his kickboxing at distance throughout it. Pavlovich’s face was quite bloodied by time round two was over, and round three wasn’t much better for him.
Pavlovich bit down and threw heavy combinations in the third and final round, landing a couple heavy punches, though he was ultimately picked apart through the final five minutes as well, also failing on his late takedown attempt.
Alexander Volkov has had a long career in MMA, and it’s really something to see him continuing to get better and better as he ages. He’s now 12-4 inside the octagon following this victory in UFC Saudi Arabia’s co-main event.
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