Alexander Volkov vs Sergei Pavlovich Prediction: Waiting for Upset

The UFC league made a big splash in the fighting world with an unexpected announcement. On June 22nd in Saudi Arabia at one of the tournaments in the octagon, the strongest Russian heavyweights — Sergei Pavlovich and Alexander Volkov — will be sharing the stage. The truth is, this isn't as straightforward as it seems. Their teams say they didn't agree to the fight and are contesting it. Regardless, the bout has been officially announced. Sergey Pavlovich is currently ranked third in the UFC heavyweight division, while Alexander Volkov is sixth.

Alexander Volkov has been at the top of the UFC for a long time, but he's lost some of his most crucial bouts. However, he always bounces back, learns from his mistakes, and now tries to get another shot at the title. Volkov comes from a karate background, which explains his style. Alexander is a precise and powerful striker who knows how to use his height and reach to his advantage. All the talk about him being weak in wrestling is in the past. He proved he could hold his own against Curtis Blades, Alexander Romanov, and other top fighters. Volkov has now won three bouts in a row, and in his last one, he won by submission in a completely unexpected way — Tai Tuivasa was caught off guard.

I think Pavlovich will win. I give him 80 percent. He has a harder punch, and he's a better wrestler. I see how Sergey will take Alexander down and drag him across the floor if he doesn't do well on his feet. For some reason, I'm pretty sure Pavlovich will win.

Irina "Russian Ronda" Alekseeva, current UFC women's bantamweight fighter

Sergei Pavlovich is a Russian fighter who has knocked out anyone in the first or second minute of the first round six times from 2019 to 2023. He had a bit of a misfire in his last fight, though. Tom Aspinall managed to withstand the onslaught and land a hard and accurate shot to Sergei's temple as soon as the first minute of the fight was over. Pavlovich went down hard and was finished. Interestingly, Sergei started out in martial arts with Greco-Roman wrestling, but it's not clear what his current level is. He doesn't really wrestle, and all his bouts (except for three) end in the first round.

Alexander Volkov is more experienced. In terms of skills, they are pretty equal. I'd say that Pavlovich is more hungry, but he had a title shot, while Volkov didn't. However, Sergei needs to get over the embarrassing defeat. He wants to return and prove that he just had a bad day at work. With experience, Volkov can outscore him. A knockout won't happen. They know each other well, they've studied each other. It'll be a game of chess.

Adam Bogatyrev, a Pro MMA Fighter, the #91st ranked Top Heavyweight MMA fighter

Alexander Volkov is smart and cautious. He'll avoid meeting Sergei's crazy fists. His strong striking and size advantage should help him push the confrontation as far as possible. By the way, we don't know how good Pavlovic's cardio is. Plus, Volkov has a backup plan: wrestling. It can also be a solution if something unexpected happens.

We're not sure about Alexander's victory, but we still think he has a slightly better chance. So far, Pavlovich's tactics have been pretty straightforward and clever. There have been plenty of ruthless knockout artists in Volkov's opponents, so it's no surprise he's been able to stay on top.