Then again, “anything can happen.”
That’s good news for heavyweight bruiser Alexander Volkov, who retained his spot in the 265-pound title chase with a split decision victory over Jailton Almeida on the UFC 321 main card. There was some debate over the scorecards following the decision, but White is “very happy” with the outcome.
“I’m glad the judges gave [Volkov] the fight,” White said at the UFC 321 post-fight press conference. “I think he deserved the fight. I think he won. You can’t win a fight by not doing anything. You can’t just lay on somebody and win a fight. That’s not how it works. I was actually very happy with the way judges scored that fight.”
Not surprisingly, a frustrated Volkov shared White’s enthusiasm.
”I feel good,” Volkov said after the fight. “He kind of tried to not lose the fight or tried not to have damage. You can’t go to the Octagon with these thoughts. It’s really hard to sweep or stand up for me when the guy just controls you. I expected that he’d try to punch me on top, and I will find small holes to change, to like sweep him how it was in the first round. But after the first round, he didn’t want to do this. I’m upset with this fight as well.”
“I have no idea what’s going to happen (with Volkov),” White added. “First of all, I can sit here right now, the fight just got over however long ago, and what makes sense is to do the [Aspinall vs. Gane] rematch. It makes sense. Sitting here tonight, that makes sense. I’m not saying that’s what’s going to happen. Anything can happen. I’m [also] not saying anyone is the No. 1 contender outside Ciryl Gane. I don’t know.”
Hopefully we’ll have some answers within the next couple of weeks.
