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Alexander Volkov's massive back tattoo depicts a Samurai helmet. The artwork is fundamentally based on the confrontation between life and death. According to Volkov's tattoo artist, Maxim Kislitsyn, the Samurai helmet embodies the two alienable essences of being.
Per Kislitsyn, the massive back tattoo took two weeks to complete. Upon completion, the Moscow-based tattoo artist hailed Alexander Volkov's mental grit for sitting through 55 hours to get the back piece done. Check out Kislitsyn's post below:
Alexander Volkov first entered the UFC octagon with his brand new tattoo at UFC 254 against Walt Harris. Following his second-round KO victory over Harris, 'Drago' addressed his Samurai helmet back tattoo during the post-fight press conference:
“It was really painful, it was (expletive) painful. He did say, ‘You want to do this? You’re sure?’ And I said, ‘I’m sure. I don’t have time. I just need to go to camp for my first time.’ So he said, ‘OK – two weeks.'”
“Every day, he was making a tattoo and it was so painful,” Volkov said. “First, for five days it was OK because it takes all day. But the next week was really terrible. I was whining and crying, but I wanted to finish this. I wanted to go to my next fight with a full-made tattoo. But it was a really hard challenge in my life. I don’t want do tattoo more.”
Refusing to take the easy route and finish the tattoo in separate parts, Alexander Volkov chose to get the tattoo done in one go.
“My mind, I don’t like anything that’s not finished,” Volkov said. “I like that everything is finished. For me, it’s bad to go to the fights and have a tattoo (not done). I just wanted to finish everything and go to the camp. So this says something about me and my mind.”
Volkov recently posted a photo on Instagram, claiming that his back tattoo essentially represented his alter ego.
"My alter ego. It's watching you!," wrote Volkov.
Alexander Volkov's tattoo ranks among the best in the UFC
We totally understand that ranking a tattoo is a subjective argument that will have no end. After all, liking an artwork is strictly a personal matter and nobody can make a unanimous decision about it based on objective facts. But Alexander Volkov’s tattoo, along with a few other fighters, is easily one of the most noticeable.
Former UFC champions Cody Garbrandt and Max Holloway, Tony Ferguson, Andre Fili, and Conor McGregor are other fighters whose tattoos steal the show every time they perform in the UFC octagon. Volkov’s back tattoo easily rivals theirs.
