Alexander Volkov vs Alexander Romanov at UFC Fight Night 221

ALEXANDER VOLKOV VS ALEXANDER ROMANOV FACTS

When is UFC Fight Night 221? Saturday 11 March, 2023 - 21:00 start (UK)

Where is UFC Fight Night 221? The Theatre at Virgin Hotels, Enterprise, Nevada (US)

Where can I get tickets for UFC Fight Night 221?

What channel is UFC Fight Night 221 on? BT Sport 2

Where can I stream UFC Fight Night 221? BT Sport subscribers can stream the fight online via the BT Sport website

ALEXANDER VOLKOV VS ALEXANDER ROMANOV LOWDOWN

Alexander Volkov’s (35-10) title aspirations keep slipping out of his hands losing to top contenders. He made ground by knocking out Walt Harris (2020) and Alistair Overeem (2021) but then got outclassed and outpointed by Cyril Gane (2021). He responded by outpointing Marcin Tybura (2021) but then got dominated and submitted by Tom Aspinall (2022). Now, he is coming off a brilliant TKO over Jairzinho Rozenstruik (2022) but must get a streak going now.

Alexander Romanov (16-1) is the significantly sized roadblock standing in his way who is coming off the first loss of his career. Besides Juan Espino (2021) who he scraped past in a split decision, he has mauled through all five of his UFC opponents. After that loss, he TKO’d Jared Vanderaa (2021) and submitted Chase Sherman (2022). That led him into the path of Marcin Tybura (2022) who came out on top in a majority decision.

ALEXANDER VOLKOV VS ALEXANDER ROMANOV PREDICTION

Tybura was a significant step up in competition for Romanov and he had looked incredible in the first round. His issue is his cardio and we can see this fight playing out in a similar way. Expect Romanov to look like a beast and aggressively hunt the takedown.

Volkov has good takedown defence and although he got taken down, his experience sharing the cage with the likes of Curtis Blaydes and Tom Aspinall is priceless. He even has a win over Tybura so he will be confident he can weather the early storm and then prey on a fatigues Moldovan.

That said, we can see Romanov having a lot of success in the first round. So, it is possible Romanov could blast him out of the first round with a knockout or submission. If he cannot find the finish and gases out, Volkov will be able to fend off the takedown attempts late in the fight and begin to pick King Kong apart.

Volkov is a significant underdog so holds value with a late finish, however, we have a feeling Romanov will be too much for the Russian in the first round.

Prediction: Romanov via Submission -