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We preview the main event of UFC Vegas 56 Rozenstruik vs Volkov – Odds, Fighter records, and paths to victory
This weekend’s UFC Fight Night features a heavyweight clash between Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Alexander Volkov. Interestingly, both fighters are coming off losses, and the fighters that they lost to, Tom Aspinall and Curtis Blaydes will clash in the main event of UFC London.
Alexander Yevgenievich Volkov (born October 24, 1988) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He has been a professional MMA competitor since 2009 and has previously competed for the M-1 Global promotion, as well as Bellator MMA.
Volkov is a black belt in Tsu Shin Gen, a brown belt in Kyokushin Karate, and a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In 2008 Volkov signed with the M-1 Global fighting organization. He made his professional MMA debut in April 2009 when he defeated Nikolay Pleshakov by TKO (punches) in just 80 seconds. Volkov followed this up a month later with a 20 second TKO victory, this time against Adam Alikhanov. A month later, Volkov suffered his first professional loss at the hands of Akhmed Sultanov. Midway through the first round, Volkov was forced to tap to an armbar. Volkov then went on a two-fight win streak, both via TKO.
With immense success in the first professional year, Volkov started competing in the prestigious M-1 Eastern European tournament, taking victories in the opening round and the semi-final. Volkov progressed to the M-1 Selection 2010 – Eastern Europe Finals, where a win would put him in line to challenge for the M-1 Global Heavyweight title at the 2010 M-1 Challenge Season events. To reach the championship fight, Volkov first had to take on Maxim Grishin to become the Eastern Europe champion. Unfortunately for Volkov, he fell prey to a rear-naked choke early in the opening round and was eliminated.
In September 2016, it was announced that Volkov has signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He made his debut against Timothy Johnson on November 19, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 99. Volkov was awarded a controversial split decision victory. 12 out of 12 media scores gave the bout to Johnson.
Volkov faced Roy Nelson on April 15, 2017, at UFC on Fox 24. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
Volkov faced Stefan Struve on September 2, 2017, at UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Struve. He won the bout via TKO in the third round. The win also earned Volkov his first Fight of the Night bonus award.
The Russian Volkov, a veteran of the sport has had a staggering 44 fights in MMA, and 12 fights inside the UFC octagon. The former M-1 and Bellator heavyweight champion has a record of 34-10, with notable wins against Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum.
Jairzinho Rozenstruik is a Surinamese mixed martial artist and former kickboxer who competes in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He currently holds the record for the second-fastest knockout in the heavyweight division against Allen Crowder at the UFC Fight Night 154. In kickboxing, he is a former WLF Super Heavyweight Tournament Champion and a Superkombat World Grand Prix I 2013 Runner-Up. As of March 21, 2022, he is #8 in the UFC heavyweight rankings. He lost his last fight against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 266 via decision.
Rozenstruik started training in a gym called Rens Project at the age of seventeen. He started taking kickboxing lessons and soon he was discovered by Michael Babb, a coach from the Vos Gym in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Trained by Babb, he came out for the House of Legends under the supervision of Ivan Hippolyte.
Rozenstruik started his combat sports career in kickboxing. He won a total of 76 matches with 64 of them by knockout out of 85 he competed in.
Rozenstruik has to reply on his brutish strength and ferocity early on to score a memorable victory. He has to keep the fight standing, and in boxing range at all times to eschew Volkov from getting comfortable. Rozenstruik is also not the best at working from his guard, and his heavy hands lack the power and munition later in the fight.
He has to keep the pressure early on but also try to not load up on his shots. Picking the right openings for an explosive break is the path to victory for Rozenstruik.
Odds – Jairzinho Rozenstruik (+140) Underdog
Alexander Volkov has to keep the fight in kickboxing range at all times. Rozenstruik is far more powerful than him on a blow to blow metric. Chopping up the front leg nice and hard early on will take away some gravity and fierceness from his opponent’s punches.
Volkov can test the ground skills of Rozenstruik because he has a clear advantage there. He needs to put his range to full use and pepper him with shots from the outside. His path to victory is playing the long game, waiting for his opportunities, and scoring a decision victory or late TKO stoppage.
Odds- Alexander Volkov (-160) Favorite
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