In June, the first UFC tournament in the country’s history took place in Saudi Arabia. Many martial arts fans will remember it for the fight between two of the top Russian heavyweights, Sergei Pavlovich and Alexander Volkov. And the rumors about this fight have not died down yet.
And it’s not about the sporting component: Volkov won a landslide victory by the judge’s decision, there are no questions here. But after the fight, Alexander wanted to thank Sergei for the fight, to which Pavlovich responded with a shove and obscene language directed at his compatriot. It is this story, of course, that still worries fans.
The conflict between Volkov and Pavlovich crossed borders:
“If he attacks, I’ll call the police.” Has the battle of the Russian heroes turned into a real feud?
It all started with the fact that the Russians did not want to agree to a fight with each other: at one time they helped each other prepare for fights, trained and got along well. Because of this, both stated that they would fight each other only for the title. However, despite this, the fight was still officially announced and the fighters still cannot determine who first agreed to the fight: both claim that they only responded to the opponent’s consent.
This situation hurt Pavlovich the most, as he took the fight seriously. Even during the battle of opinions, Sergei tried to find out from Drago who was the first to agree to the fight. Volkov, it seems, made the right decision by taking the fight calmly and turning some delicate moments into a joke.
Alexander Volkov
Photo: Fake Images
“I understood that there would be some negativity in the fight from the audience. And he tried to turn the tension into a joke. It seemed to me that he could well support this, because I am Russian, he is Russian… the ancient lizards pitted Russians against each other. This is a meme that many people know from a computer game. Anyone who wants to can look it up on Google,” Match TV quoted Volkov as saying.
Pavlovich also did not like all these jokes in an interview with Volkov, who said that he did not really understand Alexander’s humor. The tension built up, Volkov seemed to get into Sergei’s head unintentionally. Or maybe it was a brilliant plan by Drago, which greatly influenced the outcome of the fight.
Sergei Pavlovich – Alexander Volkov
Photo: Jeff Bottari/Getty Images
As a result, the motivated Pavlovich pursued Volkov’s head for all three rounds, but failed to catch up. And Volkov skillfully dealt with his compatriot and took the most important victory. It seemed that the fight was over, now the Russian fighters would shake hands and forget this story, but for Pavlovich it turned out to be something personal. The push after the fight was unexpected and Pavlovich did not comment on his action for a long time. But after a while he still spoke.
The victory over Pavlovich brought Volkov closer to the title:
He defeated the most dangerous striker in the UFC and is close to the title. Volkov is the best opponent for Jones
“I wouldn’t do it now, of course. Because emotions have subsided and so on. But the moves that were made on his part were made from afar… I’m not going to evaluate this. I just did it for myself.” [вывод]We grew up in different environments, with different concepts, with different principles. And this is not at all close to me, I am used to living like a man, being simpler, but honest and with a man’s vision of life. I don’t think it’s because of the fight. [толкнул Волкова после поединка]If we go back and look at my career, I didn’t have any problems. [после поражений]. The atmosphere behind the scenes, which I call “unmanly” in my opinion, is what caused it. There was a basis and you thought: “How can this be? It seems that a person says some things in front of the camera, but behind the camera it is completely different.” This haunted me: what an injustice,” Pavlovich said live on “Match! Fighter.”
Sergei explained, but this explanation opens up a big problem for Pavlovich. It turns out that Volkov managed to get into Sergei’s head and knock him out of his psychological balance, without actually using any trash talk. Drago’s jokes seemed harmless and quite witty, but Pavlovich had his own opinion on the matter. If Alexander managed to influence Sergei so easily, what will happen when Pavlovich faces fighters who do not hesitate to overstep any boundaries in promoting the fight, who allow themselves unflattering expressions towards their opponents?
If Sergey continues to take all this so seriously and it affects his fights, then nothing good will happen for the Russian’s career. Pavlovich needs to reconsider his approach, he must stop taking everything so seriously and be a little simpler. UFC is not only about fights, but also about media, promotion, spectacle. Volkov is not the first and not the last opponent of Pavlovich, who will be active on social media, in interviews and at press conferences. And it seems that Drago showed one of Sergei’s weak points. Therefore, Pavlovich needs to change in this direction if he wants to reach the top.
And Volkov, apparently, has gained courage and continues to stand firm in the media space, being for Pavlovich a kind of example of how to act. Alexander also turns the conflict with his compatriot into jokes and continues to insult Sergei.
“Friends, I wanted to say hello to all the newcomers. Thank you for your support. Many of you signed up after the last fight, I will try to please you with new content. In particular, 37 thousand people subscribed, but only one unsubscribed… Write, guess who,” Volkov said on social networks.
