Prediction for the fight Sergei Pavlovich vs Alexander Volkov

Two top Russian UFC heavyweights, despite their reluctance to fight each other, will identify a potential contender for the title in Saudi Arabia, at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, June 23. Sergei Pavlovich was already one step away from winning the interim title, so Alexander Volkov, at UFC on ABC 6, will try to take his place and overtake the title holder. Both have excellent finishing rates, so this fight has no chance of lasting all 3 rounds.

• Sergei Pavlovich vs Alexander Volkov;
• Sergei Pavlovich;
• Alexander Volkov;
• Comparative analysis;
• Game Totals Prediction.

Sergei Pavlovich vs Alexander Volkov

Sergei Pavlovich

After the extreme knockout at the hands of Aspinall, Sergey fell back to 3rd place in the ranking. His past is closely connected with several sports: Greco-Roman wrestling, sambo, hand-to-hand combat, but Pavlovich achieved his greatest heights in universal combat, where he gradually rose from the title of Russian champion to world champion. This guy went into the cage exactly 20 times, and only heard the judge's verdict three times, preferring to deprive the referees of the need to count points.

Strengths

Sergey is a non-standard heavyweight with almost the highest workrate in the division. Of course, after all, per minute he delivers on average 8 accented hits, and this is only half of what the Rostovite throws. Pavlovich is guided by the “here and now” rule, unleashing all his best blows on the enemy without any reconnaissance. And on the ground floor, he is brutal in finishing, while he himself defends well against takedowns, having crazy physics.

Weaknesses

For the seventh year in a row, Sergei has flatly refused to fight for more than one round. It follows that at the moment there is no way to assess its endurance. As the experience of working with the previously mentioned Aspinall has shown, it’s time for the Russian to think about building a defense and more thoroughly preparing attacks, since his brain has already experienced the second knockout, so it will be easier to get into this state further.

The current form and readiness of the fighter

Sergey is 32 years old, and before his final loss to Tom, he was on a 6-fight winning streak, defeating guys like Tai Tuivasa, Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis. Pavlovich is in his prime, he still has time to improve his technique and has been given ample recovery time after a tough loss. This means that we will see him in excellent shape, and with an irresistible desire to return to the winning streak.

Alexander Volkov

"Drago" takes 5th place in the rating. Alexander’s collection includes a number of belts from different disciplines: black for Ashihara karate, brown for Kyokushinkai and black for BJJ. In the past, the fighter won two Bellator Grand Prix, reached the final of the M-1 Selection Grand Prix, was the champion of this organization, and also won the Moscow Pankration Championship three times.

Strengths

Volkov is growing before our eyes like a professional, because he is improving not only his stand-up, where he was already good, but also his ground game. In extreme performances, he showed an excellent sense of distance, did not force events where it could lead to him taking unnecessary damage, and definitely worked on controlling his positions in the fight. Improvements in accuracy and overall power also open up more options for him to score knockouts and submissions.

Weaknesses

Despite the praise for Alexander on the ground floor, he still has a lot of work to do when compared to the division's elite. On top of everything else, Volkov still has a hard time with intense fights, where he is forced to work on defense - strikers love space, and there is no escape from this.

The current form and readiness of the fighter

The fighter is 35 years old, he is on a streak of 3 early victories, achieved in confrontations with Tai Tuivasa, Alexander Romanov and Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Volkov lost fights with Aspinall and Gun, each time falling just before his title shot. Now, Alexander has reformatted, has begun to use anthropometry much better, and most importantly, he does not stop there. And this progress indicates the athlete’s readiness to compete at the highest level.

Comparative analysis

Despite his superiority in height, and we are talking about 10 centimeters, Alexander is exactly the same amount inferior to Sergei in his arm span, which in their case plays a big role, because both prefer to fight in a standing position. Still, in terms of controlling the distance, due to the lower extremities, Volkov can beat Pavlovich, but only until he rushes into the attack, and you won’t have to wait long, at best, the Rostovite will take a minute for reconnaissance, no more .

It is in these rapprochements that the secret of Sergei’s success lies, because his guns will easily shake the head of “Drago”, and he is unlikely to be able to escape for a long time in the clinch, his counterpart is too powerful to slow down his attacks with grabs. The slightest mistake, and another knockout from Pavlovich in the first round will not take long to arrive Total less (1.5) by rounds. However, Alexander not only has striking techniques and kicks that can be used to stop the enemy, but also wrestling. Will it be effective? In the first round, it’s unlikely, since it’s impossible to knock Sergei down just like that.

If, solely in theory, Volkov “bicycles” for the first 5 minutes, then his viscous clinches can produce results. But we rely on pure statistics, and there, the picture for Volkov is not at all rosy. Pavlovich hits more powerfully, his starts are almost impossible to spray, and sooner or later he will definitely be able to lock his opponent at the net. And this gives reason to believe that the chances of his victory are much higher, since Alexander’s counterplay will not reach its peak effectiveness as quickly as we would like.

Sergei Pavlovich vs Alexander Volkov Prediction

Let’s say right away that there will be no judge’s decision here, because the finish rate for two is 79.5%. As they say: “The likelihood of this happening is extremely low.” Either Sergey will soon get close to Alexander and turn off his light, or Volkov will stall for time with the help of movements, slightly slow down the enemy with kicks, and then will catch him making mistakes and also successfully score.

The option with a ground game can be considered, but it’s hard to believe that one of them will be able to keep the opponent on the floor for long enough. It follows from this that we will consider betting on someone’s victory in the second place, and in the first place – the duration of the fight. Total less (1.5) in rounds looks more than attractive, but if we talk about the real chances of triumph, then the favorite, in the person of Pavlovich, seems to be a more reasonable choice. Install the 1xbet app and place a bet on the favorite!

Prediction: Total less (1.5) for completed rounds/Early victory for Sergei Pavlovich