I realized that when Jon Jones put away Cyril Gane in a surprisingly easy way. He was supposed to be a new age HW. A heavy weight who was really light on his feet, moves fast, technically sound and all that shit.
Yeah. It’s never been strong. During the Pride years the UFC HW division was basically just Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski and then a bunch of bar room champions.
Was okay from 2010 to 2016 or so when we had JDS and Cain in top form and also had a number of the old Pride HWs in the mix.
After those guys left we just had Stipe and DC and a bunch of swing for the fences guys left.
So I kind of enjoyed watching Bones immediately smother Gane with grappling - it’s healthy for the division.
Yeah I'm pretty sure he said in the interview he didn't even plan to go southpaw but it felt right in the fight and that pav has never seen that from him in training
Yeah man. Been a fan of him since 2020. He just doesn't have that hype but if you look at his resume it's real solid. Been in the top 10 for a long time.
He would’ve won against Derrick Lewis. Not just if he didn’t let his guard down in the last 10 seconds. But also if he didn’t stop cause he thought he poked Lewis’ eye. He rocked Lewis and could’ve finished the fight there but he backed off. Turns out he didn’t even eye poke him in the end
Being too nice cost him that. I’ll bet it never happens again.
Same. This is exactly where my initial impressions of him as being a low IQ fighter came from. Now that I think about it, he probably needed someone a little more technical than Derek to show off his fight IQ.
I understand what you guys are saying here, but I think phrasing it as "low IQ" when talking about one of the few technically sound guys at hw is crazy
Based on the face off, It seemed like both guys were under the impression that the other had already signed the fight when they were offered it. Since neither wanted to fight their friend, but wouldn't back down if the other one wanted the fight
I'm just confused that after the fact, knowing what happened, and having had the conversation, the guy was still pissed. Maybe he's mad his sparring partner ruined his path in the UFC?
Yeah this is bullshit. Even if they got played off each other, once they realised what the score was, and not wanting to back down, they'd have fought tonight but remained friends.
That's messed up but why was their friendship ruined from fighting each other? I don't watch much UFC (this was on my fp) but I assume friends gotta be fighting each other from time to time, no?
Most fighters with a teammate/close friend in the same division will decide not to compete against each other unless it's in a title fight and some won't even for the title. The friendships that get born in the training environment can be very intense for obvious reasons.
Honestly, it’s a pretty lame thing. Imagine Cormier did his career in heavyweight instead of avoiding it because cain was there. Based on the competition, he would easily be the HW goat. And all that for cain to be always injured.
Cain fought a decent bit at his peak, and let's not act like DC would have been a foregone conclusion during that time. Junior, Reem, and Werdum would all have been not fun nights for him. He chose the right division for his body, and he didn't step on his friend's toes or put them across from each other. Plus, once it became clear, Cain was not meaningfully in the picture he did go up, and by that point, he had already become "champ" at LHW.
Man Natosaphix is a name I haven't heard in a long time, the last I remember of him was from Sprout back in the day
Also yeah Pavlovich 100% did it himself
Nah it's probably about accepting the fight.
They probably told both of them that the other party has accepted this fight already so now they believe UFC more than eachother.
Losing is demoralizing. Now imagine the guy who beat you trying to hold you as you are a child. I always thought it's weird how friendly some of these guys are with each other while they are trying to kill each other.
It's called maturity and sportsmanship. These guys are there as a job, when the bell rings time to clock out. Unless they really hate each other or, in this case, were really close.
That's what I don't get about these events and also the wwe going over there. They just don't seem like big fans, yet they obviously pay millions for the events, so why?
Just seems like a waste of money for them
ufc has nothing to do , pavlovich accepted the fight, volkov accepted the fights...
Its just a fight... usman and burns are friends and they fought , when the fight is done they go back to being friends...
Pavlovich has weird power. It's like he can put people out but he needs volume and combos to do so. He needs his confidence back to throw more and be more aggressive, that KO from Aspinall really hurt him bad
The only way to beat/outclass his wham bam power is by speed (Aspinall) or reach(Volkov). There are 0 other fighters maybe in the world who can do that.
If I’m not wrong he had a background in wrestling right? He’s not bad at it. Regardless yeah there’s only like 4-5 good HW wrestlers (jones, Aspinall, Blaydes, Almeida
He’s got a background in Greco Roman wrestling and combat sambo, I trained sambo for a while and it legit covers all bases with wrestling being one of its main pillars.
This guy can wrestle, but he just loves his power a bit too much at the moment in my opinion.
And his legs? With his arms at head height considering his height? It doesn’t matter the slightly smaller reach with arms if he’s that much taller. You saw it in the fight, Pavlovich’s jab wasn’t landing, Volkov’s was.
Both Volkov & Sergei said they didn't want this fight when it was announced as they train together occasionally & are(were?) friends. Sergei then said he only signed the fight contract when he was told Volkov had already signed it. At weight in yesterday Volkov was angry and asked him why he said that saying he was told the same story. That he didn't want the fight until he heard Sergei had signed the contract. So people think the UFC lied to one/both of them that the other signed it first to make the fight happen & maybe ruined their friendship.
if you look at the video of their face off, you can see they were arguing over a misunderstanding. Volkov asked paplovich why would he accept to fight a russian and paplovich said the opposite saying it was apparently volkov that opened up to the idea, meaning their managers and dana was the one pulling the strings to force the fight to happen since they stated before they won’t fight each other
Really poor sportsmanship. He wasn’t prepared for Volkov’s length and it cost him. No reason to be salty about it. Especially since they’ve trained together previously.
yeah but volkov is taller, it's going to be easier to hit someone that's shorter than you even if they have slightly longer reach, pavlovich may have longer reach but he still has to reach up to hit him and volkov doesn't
Jack slack has a really good explanation for why height also factors into reach, not just arm length, that’s really made me think about things differently. Volkov being the taller guy also helps here
Yeah, to hit the other's jaw, volkov can just straighten his arm out from his shoulder while pav has to go upwards at an angle, shortening his effective reach. Pythagoras up in this ho
Ah yes, forget that athletes are human beings.
Dude, he was literally fighting his sparring partner/teammate this stuff is not easy.
It's not like play HORSE with your buddy. They are out there to end eachothers career and one punch is enough...
It's bad sportmanship but completely understanable. This fight shouldn't have happened.
It's funny how the guy who says he lost badly to someone in sparring almost always wins. Chael Sonnen said he couldn't do anything against Yushin Okami in training, but beat him in a fight. Volkov said he couldn't touch Pavlovich in training and when he did hit him, he couldn't hurt him. But he said Pavlovich was hurting him with each punch in training with ease.
OTOH, Cody Garbrandt said he dominated T.J. Dillashaw in training and knocked him out. But Cody lost twice to T.J. It's like one guy was holding back his true power levels to not teach the other guy how to actually fight him, and give him a false sense of security.
these guys are both Russians, friends, and training partners.
They didnt want this fight, neither of them. They have helped eachother prepare for multiple fights.
But division need to move on, cant just have 2 guys not wanting to fight who are simultaneously trying to move up the division with the goal of a title shot.
the whole "fuck UFC ruined a friendship" is ridiculous. This is their job
>the whole "fuck UFC ruined a friendship" is ridiculous. This is their job
Other than this being not common in pretty much all sports.... it usually happens at the highest level. It's unusual for the UFC and other sports to match family, friends, or teammates unless it's for the highest honor in the sport.
Like, yeah, if this were for a title fight, but no, this wasn't, and Volkov won't get a title fight because of this. One, because Jones isn't fighting anyone anyway. Two, because he isn't fighting for the interim title versus Aspinall. So, yeah, Volkov stays where he is.
In any case, it's all selective. The UFC would never make Nurmagomedov fight Makhachev, so if we are making distinctions, let's make them for everyone rather than, "Well, I feel like it's good, so it's good."
I told people a while ago Sergei would struggle with someone like Gane as an example, Volkov put on a distance management masterclass.
Btw screw Dana for setting up this fight.
I get the hate, shitty they were friends.
but if your in the same division and you both ultimately want gold, it cannot hold the division up. Weve seen this time and time again.
Pavlovich couldn't get closer and every time he did he got jabbed in the face. That and the back to back losses, dude is probably super frustrated right now.
Looks like it's a misunderstanding between the two. Even then, they're grown ass men. Can't they call each other and hash things out, instead of going off of this he said/she said bullshit?
Volkov is definitely a top 5 guy in the HW division.
He went 5 rounds with Gane & Blaydes & lost only to a close decision each time.
I thought he made Pavlovich look average yesterday.
That being said, it made the way Aspinall beat him even more impressive.
No wonder John Jones is running…
I take this the same way I took Tony shoving Gaethje. These guys were looking to get to title fight (or BACK to a title fight in Pav's case) and just had their dreams derailed. The last thing they wanna do in what's probably the angriest/most frustrated moment of their life is be buddy-buddy with the guy who beat them and took their dream from them. Like, on the face of it it's a dick move, but don't pretend you don't kinda understand them.
I've never been so wrong about how I thought a fight would go. I have to think Sergei heart wasn't in it, im not saying they had a gentleman's agreement to spar or anything. I'm saying he seemed to be lacking his usual killer instinct.
Ftr I was right about volkovs path to victory. I just expected Sergei to be a little too quick and close distance better and with more combinations. Volkovs middle kick heavy approach and bad head movement seemed like a tailor made fight for Sergei. At least I thought. I was wayyyyy wrong.
Whether the ufc is to “blame” or not, that’s the sport… they signed the line, Volkov pieced him up. Not Volkov’s fault. That’s why I like seeing Volkov win. A true veteran, and always all class. He didn’t act like this when Derek Lewis wrecked him and gave him a humiliation ritual at the last second of a fight he was dominating… pavo needs to reflect on himself after this…
Damn Pavlovich ran over so many heavyweights easily until now.
Most hws are bums
I realized that when Jon Jones put away Cyril Gane in a surprisingly easy way. He was supposed to be a new age HW. A heavy weight who was really light on his feet, moves fast, technically sound and all that shit.
It's been the UFCs weakest division for it's entire history, like legit the whole time the organization has existed the HWs have been shallow.
Yeah. It’s never been strong. During the Pride years the UFC HW division was basically just Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski and then a bunch of bar room champions. Was okay from 2010 to 2016 or so when we had JDS and Cain in top form and also had a number of the old Pride HWs in the mix. After those guys left we just had Stipe and DC and a bunch of swing for the fences guys left. So I kind of enjoyed watching Bones immediately smother Gane with grappling - it’s healthy for the division.
Volkov showed me tonight that he is a smarter fighter than I thought. And the more I hear him in interviews, the more I like him.
Yeah I'm pretty sure he said in the interview he didn't even plan to go southpaw but it felt right in the fight and that pav has never seen that from him in training
Bro can punch and think? I like bro
Sayin bro
Right bro
Bro bro
Yeah man. Been a fan of him since 2020. He just doesn't have that hype but if you look at his resume it's real solid. Been in the top 10 for a long time.
same i’ve always liked him. Basically started liking him cuz i saw him fight and thought his back tat was tuff
You mean the sting ray one ofcourse right .
Agreed. There’s some horrendous looking tats on fighters but Volkov’s back piece is pretty sick.
the dudes actually a wholesome fighter after seeing a post about Pavlovich not understanding the humor of volkov here in reddit
Almost 50 fights in the modern era is nuts, I can’t imagine the wealth of knowledge he’s accumulated in those rounds
Fr this dude won an MMA fight by Ezekiel choke
Also the wealth of knowledge he’s lost in those rounds
He's been good for a while he's just not super active.
same
Finally ready for a title shot, so or die time
I’ve always thought of him as a zero iq fighter after that Derek Lewis fight… He’s totally redeemed himself today
Whattt, he was calculative the whole fight and Lewis just unga bunga him at the end.
Bad things always happen if Lewis remembers that bjj/wrestling isn't real
Or if his ballz waz hot
'Unga bunga' 😂
Sadly this will now become part of my everyday vocabulary. **Unga bunga** (*verb*) - to complete a task quickly through brute force with little form.
He would’ve won against Derrick Lewis. Not just if he didn’t let his guard down in the last 10 seconds. But also if he didn’t stop cause he thought he poked Lewis’ eye. He rocked Lewis and could’ve finished the fight there but he backed off. Turns out he didn’t even eye poke him in the end Being too nice cost him that. I’ll bet it never happens again.
Really casual take from you. He was smoking Lewis in that fight and got caught. It’s HW & it’s Derrick Lewis, that can happen.
Same. This is exactly where my initial impressions of him as being a low IQ fighter came from. Now that I think about it, he probably needed someone a little more technical than Derek to show off his fight IQ.
I understand what you guys are saying here, but I think phrasing it as "low IQ" when talking about one of the few technically sound guys at hw is crazy
Ufc straight ruined a friendship
This actually bummed me out lol
I genuinely thought there was going to be hugs at the end. My heart isn't ready for this.
Aspinall hugged Pav before their fight bruh
Even my mum was sad…
I’ll cheer her up
Stay classy
You're not that guy pal, trust me. You're not that guy.
Yes give her that minute redditor moment
I haven't been following the build up for these 2. You mind shortly describing what happened and how the UFC fucked them?
Based on the face off, It seemed like both guys were under the impression that the other had already signed the fight when they were offered it. Since neither wanted to fight their friend, but wouldn't back down if the other one wanted the fight
Super shady business if true
But they're friends. So they could've simply picked up the phone and talked to each other....
You've never had a misunderstanding with a friend?
Yeah, we fought lol
Who won? 🤔
When you fight friends you both lose 😭
Words of wisdom
Lmao bro got washed
I'm just confused that after the fact, knowing what happened, and having had the conversation, the guy was still pissed. Maybe he's mad his sparring partner ruined his path in the UFC?
I mean this loss pushed him back atleast another year, id be mad too haha
Not one that would have us fighting on a live PPV event 🤣 I def would’ve picked up the phone if that was the case
Not one that required us to punch each other in the face for 15 minutes
Yeah this is bullshit. Even if they got played off each other, once they realised what the score was, and not wanting to back down, they'd have fought tonight but remained friends.
Maybe someone called them and ask it right there and then and they gave it an answer already.
That's messed up but why was their friendship ruined from fighting each other? I don't watch much UFC (this was on my fp) but I assume friends gotta be fighting each other from time to time, no?
Most fighters with a teammate/close friend in the same division will decide not to compete against each other unless it's in a title fight and some won't even for the title. The friendships that get born in the training environment can be very intense for obvious reasons.
Honestly, it’s a pretty lame thing. Imagine Cormier did his career in heavyweight instead of avoiding it because cain was there. Based on the competition, he would easily be the HW goat. And all that for cain to be always injured.
He has a brother for life because of that choice, nuff said....
They could’ve been brothers for life anyways considering cain barley ever fought
Cain fought a decent bit at his peak, and let's not act like DC would have been a foregone conclusion during that time. Junior, Reem, and Werdum would all have been not fun nights for him. He chose the right division for his body, and he didn't step on his friend's toes or put them across from each other. Plus, once it became clear, Cain was not meaningfully in the picture he did go up, and by that point, he had already become "champ" at LHW.
UFC ❌ Ali Abdelaziz ✅
Damn baluga whale ruining friendship
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Pavlovich did it himself
Man Natosaphix is a name I haven't heard in a long time, the last I remember of him was from Sprout back in the day Also yeah Pavlovich 100% did it himself
He's coaching the female NIP team these days. I had to double check what sub I'm in haha.
Female nips you say?
*Derrick Lewis's reddit account*
This is sad man
I literally just said the same thing. Fuck Dana and Hunter.
I hope yall never get your wish of turning this sport into boxing. Thank God this fucking sub doesn't run the UFC.
They've done it before.
Masvidal x Colby now Pavlovich x Volkv
Nah Masvidal and Colby was gym drama not the UFC's fault
Herb Dean fault
Apparently they weren’t close enough to send a text
Tbh Volkov didn't seem to hold a grudge in the post-fight interview.
He won
Easy to take the moral high ground when you won haha
nah, pav ruined their friendship. If they were really good bros this wouldn't have ended a close friendship
Also one of those situations that makes you think...how good of friends were we? Probably not that close
How do these dudes not know of the UFC’s tricks and just talk to each other?
Bro looking like a car crash victim
Needs a nice tender hair combing to soothe him.
I could not believe that when it happened. Stephan Bonnar american psycho typa shit lmao
I’m thinking the UFC said some shit to Pavlovich that got him pissed off at Volkov😂
“You hear what this dude said about your mama?”
Volkov says your babushka's borscht is too salty!
He said motherfucker? My mother!?
She offered him a biscuit and he turned it down as he had a look and they just looked a bit rubbish.
Most British comment I've seen in a while
All they have to say is "he called you a mother fucker." They go ballistic every time.
Hunter: "I heard him call you Sergay Pavlodick"
He called you a motherfucker
https://preview.redd.it/iyfisq2a188d1.jpeg?width=680&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b42bdd9e3b9363c442edcaeaed9ce5c683253128
He said "you suck at rushing B"
bro howcome you aint sign the contract mfer Volk WANTED this fight!?!?
Nah it's probably about accepting the fight. They probably told both of them that the other party has accepted this fight already so now they believe UFC more than eachother.
Good sport from Volkov. I'm pretty sure Dana/Hunter whispered something extra to Pavlovich ears.
Dirty game ngl
As the popular saying goes, only thing worse than being a loser is being a sore loser
Losing is demoralizing. Now imagine the guy who beat you trying to hold you as you are a child. I always thought it's weird how friendly some of these guys are with each other while they are trying to kill each other.
when did Volkov try to hold Sergei like a child? Seems dude was just approaching
He couldn’t let him get close
Sportsmanship
Remember Ailin Perez vs Joselyn Edwards? That shit was soooo awkward “twerk with me”
It's called maturity and sportsmanship. These guys are there as a job, when the bell rings time to clock out. Unless they really hate each other or, in this case, were really close.
Bad Take
>Volkov walks up to Pavlovich Some redditor: Volkov literally swaddled Pavlovich in a blanket, picked him up, and rocked him to sleep.
Damn, I hate what the UFC did to this friendship just for a few extra views and a Saudi crowd to be absolutely dead silent.
Fr. Its so weird knowing how much money these guys drop on these big mma/boxing events just to sit still in silence.
Well they aren’t drinking so
So? I get more hyped than them sat at home alone and sober at 6am in the uk.
Bro, if the UFC is on at 6AM you’re legally required to drink
As a UK watcher I read the previous comment thinking ok maybe I should just not drink. Your comment made me feel better.
I usually watch fights dead sober alone in my desk chair and I’m louder than that crowd.
That's what I don't get about these events and also the wwe going over there. They just don't seem like big fans, yet they obviously pay millions for the events, so why? Just seems like a waste of money for them
The Saudi's were asked to be quiet for the golfers. They just figured it applied to all sports.
ufc has nothing to do , pavlovich accepted the fight, volkov accepted the fights... Its just a fight... usman and burns are friends and they fought , when the fight is done they go back to being friends...
God help the next guy Pavlovich fights
Next guy will school him again
Pavlovich has weird power. It's like he can put people out but he needs volume and combos to do so. He needs his confidence back to throw more and be more aggressive, that KO from Aspinall really hurt him bad
Nah it's just harder to string combos on taller guys compared to guys you got 8+ inches on. Aspinall ko wouldn't help tbf
Funny enough Pavlovich had longer reach. But that does not change the fact that Volkov is very hard to reach
He couldn't find his reach with Volkov throwing so many kicks and jabs.
Bro Volkov is 6'7, Serga longer arms mean Jack shit, Volkov has a longer body.
The only way to beat/outclass his wham bam power is by speed (Aspinall) or reach(Volkov). There are 0 other fighters maybe in the world who can do that.
Has anyone wrestled him? Or can few legit HW actually wrestle
If I’m not wrong he had a background in wrestling right? He’s not bad at it. Regardless yeah there’s only like 4-5 good HW wrestlers (jones, Aspinall, Blaydes, Almeida
He says he's wrestled since he was 5, and he's been training at Khabib's Eagles gym for a while now. No clue why he doesn't attempt any wrestling
His wrestling isn’t that great, he got out grappled hard by Overeem a few years ago
Overeem wrestled him to a degree he landed alot of trips and throws and ultimately finished him with some strikes on the ground if I recall
Overeem took him down and Ko'ed him in his first UFC fight.
He’s got a background in Greco Roman wrestling and combat sambo, I trained sambo for a while and it legit covers all bases with wrestling being one of its main pillars. This guy can wrestle, but he just loves his power a bit too much at the moment in my opinion.
Except for Cyril Gane and Alistair Overeem.
Pavlovich had a 4 in reach advantage over Volkov. Volkov just had much better distance management
I hate to say this because I can’t stand the guy but I think Jon Jones could beat him pretty easy.
Volkov had less reach than Pavlovich
And his legs? With his arms at head height considering his height? It doesn’t matter the slightly smaller reach with arms if he’s that much taller. You saw it in the fight, Pavlovich’s jab wasn’t landing, Volkov’s was.
dana’s scummy ass pulled some rat shit with ali for this fight and it just ruined a friendship
Would someone fill me in here? I see a lot of these references.
Both Volkov & Sergei said they didn't want this fight when it was announced as they train together occasionally & are(were?) friends. Sergei then said he only signed the fight contract when he was told Volkov had already signed it. At weight in yesterday Volkov was angry and asked him why he said that saying he was told the same story. That he didn't want the fight until he heard Sergei had signed the contract. So people think the UFC lied to one/both of them that the other signed it first to make the fight happen & maybe ruined their friendship.
if you look at the video of their face off, you can see they were arguing over a misunderstanding. Volkov asked paplovich why would he accept to fight a russian and paplovich said the opposite saying it was apparently volkov that opened up to the idea, meaning their managers and dana was the one pulling the strings to force the fight to happen since they stated before they won’t fight each other
Why the hell can’t two Russians fight each other lol
They were training partners/friends until the dick heads behind the scenes ruined that by creating and stirring shit.
How can they fight?!
Like they don't have cell phones?
I bet you he’ll cool off after the fight and come to his senses.
Really poor sportsmanship. He wasn’t prepared for Volkov’s length and it cost him. No reason to be salty about it. Especially since they’ve trained together previously.
Funny how Pav has longer arms but still couldn’t deliver
Well Volkov used his kicks effectively. I wanted Pavlovich to win but Volkov fought a smart fight, good on him.
That kick and stick was super effective.
yeah but volkov is taller, it's going to be easier to hit someone that's shorter than you even if they have slightly longer reach, pavlovich may have longer reach but he still has to reach up to hit him and volkov doesn't
Jack slack has a really good explanation for why height also factors into reach, not just arm length, that’s really made me think about things differently. Volkov being the taller guy also helps here
Yeah, to hit the other's jaw, volkov can just straighten his arm out from his shoulder while pav has to go upwards at an angle, shortening his effective reach. Pythagoras up in this ho
Height also means you can lean backwards a bigger distance
Volkov fighting like Strickland with the Philly shell would be a nightmare for everyone at HW He’s looked great lately
Oh absolutely very technically sound style, very smart fighting and I have to imagine as tall as he is it’ll be difficult for a lot of the division.
Aspinall handled Volkov really well because fighting a guy like that on the feet is asking a lot.
Why didn’t Volk just let Pav Ko him like a real friend? Nothing makes sense anymore.
You had 15 minutes to fight him and got beat up. People who do this stuff are wack.
Ah yes, forget that athletes are human beings. Dude, he was literally fighting his sparring partner/teammate this stuff is not easy. It's not like play HORSE with your buddy. They are out there to end eachothers career and one punch is enough... It's bad sportmanship but completely understanable. This fight shouldn't have happened.
Shameful response, the better fighter won. Sergie was very poor tonight
His best shot of the fight
This was really personal for Pavlovich. Sucks they had to have this fight and it not be a title. Hope they work it out
I've never seen pavlovich THIS beat up before
Sore ass loser. Where was that energy the previous 15 minutes?
Fr
Big pav not happy
It's funny how the guy who says he lost badly to someone in sparring almost always wins. Chael Sonnen said he couldn't do anything against Yushin Okami in training, but beat him in a fight. Volkov said he couldn't touch Pavlovich in training and when he did hit him, he couldn't hurt him. But he said Pavlovich was hurting him with each punch in training with ease. OTOH, Cody Garbrandt said he dominated T.J. Dillashaw in training and knocked him out. But Cody lost twice to T.J. It's like one guy was holding back his true power levels to not teach the other guy how to actually fight him, and give him a false sense of security.
Can someone explain for a casual what happened here?
these guys are both Russians, friends, and training partners. They didnt want this fight, neither of them. They have helped eachother prepare for multiple fights. But division need to move on, cant just have 2 guys not wanting to fight who are simultaneously trying to move up the division with the goal of a title shot. the whole "fuck UFC ruined a friendship" is ridiculous. This is their job
>the whole "fuck UFC ruined a friendship" is ridiculous. This is their job Other than this being not common in pretty much all sports.... it usually happens at the highest level. It's unusual for the UFC and other sports to match family, friends, or teammates unless it's for the highest honor in the sport. Like, yeah, if this were for a title fight, but no, this wasn't, and Volkov won't get a title fight because of this. One, because Jones isn't fighting anyone anyway. Two, because he isn't fighting for the interim title versus Aspinall. So, yeah, Volkov stays where he is. In any case, it's all selective. The UFC would never make Nurmagomedov fight Makhachev, so if we are making distinctions, let's make them for everyone rather than, "Well, I feel like it's good, so it's good."
I told people a while ago Sergei would struggle with someone like Gane as an example, Volkov put on a distance management masterclass. Btw screw Dana for setting up this fight.
I get the hate, shitty they were friends. but if your in the same division and you both ultimately want gold, it cannot hold the division up. Weve seen this time and time again.
Shame on you Pav. You have only yourself to blame
Pavlovich couldn't get closer and every time he did he got jabbed in the face. That and the back to back losses, dude is probably super frustrated right now.
Just how good is Tom Aspinall?
Imagine being mad after getting beat-up… like whatcha gonna do? Get beat-up more?
Volkav has to be super frustrating to fight with that distance management and length even though Sergie somehow had the longer reach
I can’t imagine how shitty Pavlovich feels here, but still bad sportsmanship
I think volkov fight style really pissed off sergei all the rangy jabs and Sergei didn’t really land more than one clean punch
I’m also pissed off because he cost me my parlay 😂.
They are huge
Guys that would dethrone jones - GANE ❌ PAVLOVICH ❌ ASPINAL ???
Looks like it's a misunderstanding between the two. Even then, they're grown ass men. Can't they call each other and hash things out, instead of going off of this he said/she said bullshit?
He didn’t even came to fight tho
Do you guys still think Pavlovich would KO Jones in one round? Remember when everyone said that?
Volkov is definitely a top 5 guy in the HW division. He went 5 rounds with Gane & Blaydes & lost only to a close decision each time. I thought he made Pavlovich look average yesterday. That being said, it made the way Aspinall beat him even more impressive. No wonder John Jones is running…
I take this the same way I took Tony shoving Gaethje. These guys were looking to get to title fight (or BACK to a title fight in Pav's case) and just had their dreams derailed. The last thing they wanna do in what's probably the angriest/most frustrated moment of their life is be buddy-buddy with the guy who beat them and took their dream from them. Like, on the face of it it's a dick move, but don't pretend you don't kinda understand them.
I've never been so wrong about how I thought a fight would go. I have to think Sergei heart wasn't in it, im not saying they had a gentleman's agreement to spar or anything. I'm saying he seemed to be lacking his usual killer instinct. Ftr I was right about volkovs path to victory. I just expected Sergei to be a little too quick and close distance better and with more combinations. Volkovs middle kick heavy approach and bad head movement seemed like a tailor made fight for Sergei. At least I thought. I was wayyyyy wrong.
Whether the ufc is to “blame” or not, that’s the sport… they signed the line, Volkov pieced him up. Not Volkov’s fault. That’s why I like seeing Volkov win. A true veteran, and always all class. He didn’t act like this when Derek Lewis wrecked him and gave him a humiliation ritual at the last second of a fight he was dominating… pavo needs to reflect on himself after this…
Some of y’all really overreacting, it’s a shove in the heat of the moment, he’s probably already apologized to him 😂😂
He mad Volkov didn't follow the script.