What fight fan worth their salt isn’t looking forward to UFC 226?
UFC 226 is headlined by a legitimate superfight. Light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will move back up to take on Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight strap.
Miocic might well be the greatest heavyweight ever. DC, who went undefeated at heavyweight, could be the best fighter not named Jon Jones to ever grace an Octagon. The fight is the main attraction of international fight week, historically the biggest week in the promotion’s calendar.
We know how callous the MMA Gods can be. We’ve watched Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson get booked and scrapped four times. We’ve seen countless main events get ruined by injuries, withdrawals and botched weight cuts. So, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility (touch wood) that this fantasy match-up simply won’t happen.
There is already a genuine fear about two divisions being held up because of this fight already. If it gets delayed, pointless interim titles are inevitable in order to keep up with the UFC’s unsustainable 12 PPVs a year schedule. However, the UFC have a great back up plan in place to reduce the risk of this happening.
Dragooooo!!!
Should the shit hit the proverbial, Alexander Volkov (30-6, 4-0 UFC) will step into the main event slot. This was first reported by Russian outlet Sport24 reports.
Volkov has had a real career resurgence since bowing out of Bellator on a two-fight skid. Since losing to Tony Johnson and Cheick Kongo respectively, ‘Drago’ has won all six of his fights, four of which have come under the UFC banner. In his most recent outing, he knocked out former champion Fabricio Werdum. This performance in London solidified his spot as a serious contender.
At 29, he is one of the younger ranked heavyweights. His other standout physical attribute is his height. Standing at 6 ft 7, his towering physique can cause all sorts of problems. Remember, Miocic’s first loss came against another man-giant by the name of Stefan Struve.
DRAGOOO! 👊@AlexDragoVolkov KOs legend Fabricio Werdum to go 4-0 in the UFC!#UFCLondon pic.twitter.com/lc5VGf7YZG
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) March 17, 2018
It’s no super fight, but it’s a pretty damn good back-up. Way better than nothing.
