Fights
The top Russian fighter chose America. What is behind Drago’s action?
Alexander Volkov / Photo: © Stephen McCarthy / Contributor / Sportsfile / Gettyimages.ru
Volkov hopes the move will help him make the most of the rest of his career.
Top-level Russian fighters, having signed a contract with the UFC or another prestigious American organization, often settle overseas, preferring not only to fight, but also to prepare for fights in the United States. Until recently, Alexander Volkov was an exception and proved by his example that good results at a high level can be achieved by training in Moscow. But now Drago has also settled in the USA.
The heavyweight is confident that this will help his professional career.
“There are more opportunities here”
Alexander Volkov defended the M-1 Global heavyweight champion title in June 2016, and in November of the same year made his UFC debut, defeating American Timothy Johnson in Northern Ireland. After that, Drago spent 14 more fights in the organization, in which he performed with varying success at tournaments in the Netherlands, Great Britain, Russia, and the UAE. Most often, the fighter entered the octagon, of course, in the USA.
Like many high-class athletes, Volkov had the opportunity to train in different parts of the world, but preferred to spend the bulk of his preparation for fights in his native Moscow, at the Strela club. He visited America only on short visits and often flew in just a couple of weeks before fights in order to undergo acclimatization. However, Alexander understood perfectly well that in the USA there are many more active top-level fighters and in the context of finding suitable sparring partners it is more convenient to train there. There were other advantages, because of which Drago began to seriously think about moving. After defeating Jairzinho Rozenstruik in June 2022, the Russian publicly announced his intention to change the situation.
– At the moment I am going to return to Russia, to my family. However, I plan to get them visas and then come with them to the USA – there are more opportunities to get a fight here, and there are no difficulties with the flight. Let’s see how everything turns out… Now I’ll rest a little and take care of visas for my family and team,” Volkov said at a press conference after the victorious match.
We need to make the most of it
Difficulties with flights, by the way, did happen in Volkov’s career. You can remember how in 2020, due to flight cancellations, Alexander was stuck in America for some time and even had to keep in shape in the park on the horizontal bars. Moving to the United States could truly free a fighter from such problems. But in terms of better opportunities for getting fights, Drago may have been overly optimistic. At least, after his victory over Rozenstruik, he did not enter the octagon for nine months, and he did not have an optimal opponent – Alexander Romanov, who was noticeably inferior to the Russian in the rating.
At the same time, judging by Volkov’s recent statements, he finally settled overseas only a few months ago.
— Actually, I haven’t been in the USA for that long. At first I was in Los Angeles for six months, now I moved to Las Vegas. Rather, I have stagnated in Moscow for too long. We have been training there for 8-9 years, in the same gym. Changes were needed, working with new sparring partners, gaining experience working with other opponents, with other people. Now a new generation is growing up in the Strela team, but they are still young. I’m soon 35 years old, I have 5 years left to compete. I need to make the most of what I have left. To do this, I decided to train in cities where there are more fighters, where you can get more experience,” Sport24 quoted the fighter.
From what has been said, it is hardly possible to conclude that Volkov is loudly slamming the door and has no intention of returning to Russia. We are talking solely about the hope of achieving the maximum in a professional career, and it would not be surprising if the fighter, after completing his performances in the UFC, again settled in his native Moscow.
It’s too early to judge whether going overseas will help you achieve maximum success. If the heavyweight starts fighting more often and faces strong fighters as opponents, and ultimately is able to compete for the title, then the bet on a change of scenery will be worth it. If the UFC continues to forget for months that they have a tough fighter from Russia at their disposal, and, remembering, give him “bags,” then this can hardly be considered a success.
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Source: Sportbox
