The heavyweight UFC has always attracted the attention of martial arts fans, but recently it has become more attractive to Russian MMA fans as well. Sergey Pavlovich burst into the top 5 – a talented puncher from the Rostov region, going on a series of four early victories.

At the same time, the former Bellator and M-1 champion Alexander Volkov has been in the top 10 of the “royal” weight for many years, alternating victories with defeats. The closeness of the Russian fighters in the rankings may sooner or later lead to their confrontation in the cage, which the fans and the athletes from Russia really do not want.

However, Pavlovich expressed his readiness to fight with his compatriot, naming his main condition for the duel!

“Fight is possible only for the belt”

Volkov and Pavlovich have repeatedly said that they have been helping each other for a long time in preparation for battles, so their attitude to face-to-face confrontation is easy to predict. On top of that, most Russian fighters in foreign promotions have an unspoken rule that they try to avoid fighting each other.

Photo: © Vadim Tikhomirov / Match TV

The UFC leadership most often forces the Russians to fight among themselves, in terms of their contractual obligations. However, many fighters from our country have repeatedly admitted that, if possible, they chose a fight with a foreigner, and not with their fellow countryman. Pavlovich adheres to the same principle, but still does not completely reject the duel with Alexander:

– This fight is possible only for the belt. We train in Moscow in the gym, help each other. I have a fight – Sanya helps me. When he has a fight, I also help whenever possible. So what is the purpose of this fight? There are many foreign fighters with whom we can fight, show spectacular fights,” Pavlovich said in an interview with the Ushatayka YouTube channel.

This fight is very likely.

At the moment, the confusion in the heavyweight is generated by the legendary Jon Jones, who announced back in 2020 that he was moving to bigger guys. At the same time, specifics on the battle of Kostlyavy appeared only recently: most likely, he will meet with former champion Stipe Miocic in a fight for a temporary belt, while the king of the “heavyweights” Francis Ngannou heals his injury. Jones’ instant fight for the top of the rankings does not raise any questions, John has long been called one of the best fighters in history, if not the best. He does not need to break through fight after fight in the top 5. However, this development of events slightly slows down the other fighters of the division.

In particular, it is not clear who exactly Pavlovich and Volkov should fight. The promotion will likely bring Cyril Gan and Curtis Blades together in the top 3. For Sergey, the most logical fight is with the Australian Tai Tuivasa, who is on the 4th line in the ranking. For Alexander, in turn, the rematch with Derrick Lewis (7th line) looks the most attractive, to whom he insultingly lost by knockout in 2018, leading on points. Top heavyweight prospect Tom Aspinall is left out as he was recently out for a long time due to an injury.

As a result, in the event of an injury to one of the opponents or the impossibility of fighting for other reasons, the circle narrows so much that the fight between Pavlovich and Volkov becomes almost the only possible one, given their close positions in the ranking – fifth and eighth places.

The decisive word will be for the UFC, so Sergey and Alexander may face a real dilemma: risk a contract with the planet’s main promotion or agree to a regular rating fight.