Things didn’t go the way Alexander Volkov drew them up at UFC 321, but he’ll take it nonetheless. The Russian heavyweight contender eked out a split decision win over Jailton Almeida in a dull battle of top contenders Saturday afternoon at Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena.
After three rounds featuring a barrage of Almeida takedowns but little else, Volkov earned two scorecards in his favor — 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 — to steal the win with his activity from bottom position.
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For Volkov, it was a slice of vindication after his previous fight this past December ended in a controversial split decision loss against Ciryl Gane that many observers felt he won.
“Everybody asked me how I feel — now I feel better,” Volkov said.
“I was more active on the ground, but it doesn’t matter. Now we know who’s next — heavyweight No. 1 contender, it’s me. It doesn’t matter if this fight was not so good, but I won and I deserve it.”
Almeida (22-4) secured a single-leg takedown in the bout’s opening seconds, however, he failed to do much with it as Volkov (39-11) swept into top position and rained down hard elbows and punches to steal the first round.
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Almeida went right back to the well with another instant takedown in Round 2, except this time he refused to let Volkov get an inch, repeatedly grounding the Russian back to the mat and smothering him in a stanza that was light on offense but heavy on control.
Almeida then repeated the strategy in the final frame, smothering Volkov with relentless takedowns but mounting virtually no offense, allowing the busier Volkov to steal the round from the bottom and win an uneventful affair.
Volkov, 37, has now won five of his past six bouts, while Almeida, 34, snaps a two-fight win streak in the losing effort.
