Alexander Volkov

Alexander Volkov’s Career in M-1 Global

Alexander Volkov joined the M-1 Global in 2008 and made his professional MMA debut in April 2009, winning by TKO against Nikolay Pleshakov in just 80 seconds. He then won his next fight a month later, but suffered his first loss in his third fight to Akhmed Sultanov via armbar submission. Volkov then went on a two-fight win streak, both by TKO. In December 2009, he faced Ibragim Magomedov at M-1 Challenge 20 and won by unanimous decision, earning an M-1 Global ring for his exceptional performance.

In 2016, Volkov faced Denis Smoldarev at M-1 Challenge 64 for the vacant M-1 Global Heavyweight title and won by submission via triangle choke. He also fought former Bellator light heavyweight champion Attila Végh on June 16, 2016, at M-1 Challenge 68 and won by knockout in the first round. Fans can watch all of Volkov's fights in the M-1 Global league on the M-1 Global TV channel.

Alexander Volkov’s Career in Bellator MMA

Alexander Volkov joined Bellator Fighting Championships in September 2012 and made his U.S. debut in the Bellator season seven heavyweight tournament. He defeated Brett Rogers in the opening quarter-final round via unanimous decision and Vinicius Queiroz in the semifinals via TKO in the second round. In December 2012, he won the Bellator Season 7 Heavyweight Tournament Final and Bellator Heavyweight Championship by defeating Richard Hale via unanimous decision.

In his first title defense, Volkov faced Vitaly Minakov at Bellator 108 in November 2013 but lost the bout and his title via TKO in the first round. He bounced back with a TKO victory over Mark Holata at Bellator 111 in March 2014 and a spectacular knockout win over Mighty Mo in the semifinals of the Heavyweight Tournament at Bellator 116 in April 2014. Volkov went on to defeat Blagoy Ivanov in the finals of the tournament via submission in the second round at Bellator 120 in May 2014.

Volkov faced Tony Johnson at Bellator 136 in April 2015, where he lost via split decision. He then faced Cheick Kongo at Bellator 139 in June 2015, but lost the fight via unanimous decision. Following his second consecutive loss, Volkov’s contract was cut by Bellator MMA.

Alexander Volkov’s Career in UFC

In 2016, Volkov signed with the UFC and made his debut against Timothy Johnson at UFC Fight Night 99, winning via a controversial split decision. He then went on to defeat Roy Nelson, Stefan Struve, and Fabrício Werdum, earning his first Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night bonuses in the process.

In 2018, Volkov suffered his first UFC loss against Derrick Lewis, despite dominating the fight. He then pulled out of a scheduled bout against Alistair Overeem and defeated Greg Hardy instead. Volkov went on to lose to Curtis Blaydes but rebounded with a win over Walt Harris.

In 2021, Volkov earned his second Performance of the Night bonus with a victory over Alistair Overeem but lost to Ciryl Gane in June. He then defeated Marcin Tybura before suffering a submission loss to Tom Aspinall in March 2022.

Volkov's won his most recent fight against Alexander Romanov at UFC Fight Night 221, which took place on 11th March 2023.

Alexander Volkov Record

Result	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location
Win	36-10	Alexander Romanov	TKO (punches)	UFC Fight Night: Yan vs. Dvalishvili	March 11, 2023	1	2:16	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	35–10	Jairzinho Rozenstruik	TKO (punches)	UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Rozenstruik	June 4, 2022	1	2:12	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Loss	34–10	Tom Aspinall	Submission (straight armbar)	UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall	March 19, 2022	1	3:45	London, England
Win	34–9	Marcin Tybura	Decision (unanimous)	UFC 267	October 30, 2021	3	5:00	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Loss	33–9	Ciryl Gane	Decision (unanimous)	UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Volkov	June 26, 2021	5	5:00	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	33–8	Alistair Overeem	TKO (punches)	UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Volkov	February 6, 2021	2	2:06	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	32–8	Walt Harris	TKO (body kick and punches)	UFC 254	October 24, 2020	2	1:15	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Loss	31–8	Curtis Blaydes	Decision (unanimous)	UFC on ESPN: Blaydes vs. Volkov	June 20, 2020	5	5:00	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	31–7	Greg Hardy	Decision (unanimous)	UFC Fight Night: Magomedsharipov vs. Kattar	November 9, 2019	3	5:00	Moscow, Russia
Loss	30–7	Derrick Lewis	KO (punches)	UFC 229	October 6, 2018	3	4:49	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	30–6	Fabrício Werdum	KO (punches)	UFC Fight Night: Werdum vs. Volkov	March 17, 2018	4	1:38	London, England
Win	29–6	Stefan Struve	TKO (punches)	UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Struve	September 2, 2017	3	3:30	Rotterdam, Netherlands
Win	28–6	Roy Nelson	Decision (unanimous)	UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Reis	April 15, 2017	3	5:00	Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Win	27–6	Timothy Johnson	Decision (split)	UFC Fight Night: Mousasi vs. Hall 2	November 19, 2016	3	5:00	Belfast, Northern Ireland
Win	26–6	Attila Végh	KO (punches)	M-1 Challenge 68	June 16, 2016	1	2:38	Moscow, Russia
Win	25–6	Denis Smoldarev	Submission (triangle choke)	M-1 Challenge 64	February 19, 2016	3	0:41	Moscow, Russia
Loss	24–6	Cheick Kongo	Decision (unanimous)	Bellator 139	June 26, 2015	3	5:00	Mulvane, Kansas, United States
Loss	24–5	Tony Johnson	Decision (split)	Bellator 136	April 10, 2015	3	5:00	Irvine, California, United States
Win	24–4	Alexei Kudin	Decision (unanimous)	Union MMA Pro	February 21, 2015	3	5:00	Krasnodar, Russia
Win	23–4	Roy Boughton	TKO (punches)	Tech-Krep FC: Battle of Heroes	December 12, 2014	1	0:40	Saint Petersburg, Russia
Win	22–4	Blagoy Ivanov	Submission (rear-naked choke)	Bellator 120	May 17, 2014	2	1:08	Southaven, Mississippi, United States
Win	21–4	Mighty Mo	KO (head kick)	Bellator 116	April 11, 2014	1	2:44	Temecula, California, United States
Win	20–4	Mark Holata	TKO (punches)	Bellator 111	March 7, 2014	1	1:21	Thackerville, Oklahoma, United States
Loss	19–4	Vitaly Minakov	TKO (punches)	Bellator 108	November 15, 2013	1	2:57	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	19–3	Rich Hale	Decision (unanimous)	Bellator 84	December 14, 2012	5	5:00	Hammond, Indiana, United States
Win	18–3	Vinicius Queiroz	TKO (punches)	Bellator 80	November 9, 2012	2	4:59	Hollywood, Florida, United States
Win	17–3	Brett Rogers	Decision (unanimous)	Bellator 75	October 5, 2012	3	5:00	Hammond, Indiana, United States
Win	16–3	Stefan Stankovic	TKO (punches)	FEFoMP: Mayor Cup 2012	May 26, 2012	1	4:27	Khabarovsk, Russia
Win	15–3	Ricco Rodriguez	Decision (unanimous)	BF: Baltic Challenge 3	February 23, 2012	3	5:00	Kaliningrad, Russia
Win	14–3	Arsen Abdulkerimov	TKO (punches)	M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Monson	November 20, 2011	1	0:26	Moscow, Russia
Win	13–3	Bahodir Ibrogimov	TKO (punches)	MMA Corona Cup 1	October 7, 2011	2	2:22	Moscow, Russia
Win	12–3	Nedyalko Karadzhov	TKO (punches)	League-70: Russia vs. Brazil	August 5, 2011	1	2:41	Sochi, Russia
Win	11–3	Denis Goltsov	TKO (punches)	M-1 Challenge 25: Zavurov vs. Enomoto	April 28, 2011	2	3:05	Saint Petersburg, Russia
Win	10–3	Ruslan Chapko	TKO (punches)	Mix Fight Tournament	January 15, 2011	1	N/A	Voronezh, Russia
Loss	9–3	Pat Bennett	Decision (unanimous)	M-1 Challenge 22: Narkun vs. Vasilevsky	December 10, 2010	4	5:00	Moscow, Russia
Win	9–2	Evgeni Babich	TKO (punches)	LM: Tournament 3	September 18, 2010	1	2:10	Lipetsk, Russia
Win	8–2	Eldar Yagudin	TKO (punches)	Ratnoe Pole	August 7, 2010	1	4:34	Ryazan, Russia
Loss	7–2	Maxim Grishin	Submission (rear-naked choke)	M-1 Selection 2010: Eastern Europe Finals	July 22, 2010	1	2:39	Moscow, Russia
Win	7–1	Alexander Romaschenko	Submission (rear-naked choke)	M-1 Selection 2010: Eastern Europe Round 3	May 28, 2010	1	2:59	Kyiv, Ukraine
Win	6–1	Vitalii Yalovenko	TKO (doctor stoppage)	M-1 Selection 2010: Eastern Europe Round 2	April 10, 2010	2	1:05	Kyiv, Ukraine
Win	5–1	Ibragim Magomedov	Decision (unanimous)	M-1 Challenge 20: 2009 Finals	December 3, 2009	3	5:00	Saint Petersburg, Russia
Win	4–1	Smbat Zakaryan	TKO (punches)	ProFC: Union Nation Cup 3	October 30, 2009	1	4:20	Rostov-on-Don, Russia
Win	3–1	Abdulhalik Magomedov	TKO (punches)	M-1 Challenge: 2009 Selections 8	October 4, 2009	1	4:43	Moscow, Russia
Loss	2–1	Akhmed Sultanov	Submission (armbar)	M-1 Challenge: 2009 Selections 4	June 24, 2009	1	2:50	Saint Petersburg, Russia
Win	2–0	Adam Alikhanov	TKO (punches)	M-1 Challenge: 2009 Selections 3	May 28, 2009	1	0:20	Saint Petersburg, Russia
Win	1–0	Nikolay Pleshakov	TKO (punches)	M-1 Challenge: 2009 Selections 2	April 19, 2009	1	1:20	Saint Petersburg, Russia

Alexander Volkov’s Most Popular Fights

Alexander Volkov vs. Ciryl Gane

Alexander Volkov and Ciryl Gane went to war on June 26, 2021, in a main event Heavyweight clash from inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada at UFC Vegas 30. However, Ciryl Gane defeated Alexander Volkov via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46). Gane kept his undefeated record alive with this dominant win.

Alexander Volkov vs. Marcin Tybura

Alexander Volkov vs Marcin Tybura was a heavyweight bout that took place at UFC 267 on October 30, 2021. Volkov won by unanimous decision after three rounds, snapping Tybura’s five-fight win streak. Volkov was ranked No. 5 and Tybura was ranked No. 8 in the heavyweight division before the fight.

FAQs on Alexander Volkov

What is Alexander Volkov’s weight division?

He competes in the Heavyweight division.

What is Alexander Volkov’s nickname?

His nickname is "Drago".

What is Alexander Volkov’s MMA record?

Volkov holds an MMA record of 36-10-0.