Heavyweights
Derrick Lewis (20-5) vs. Alexander Volkov (30-6)Advertisement
Former Bellator champ Volkov was a more than worthy addition to the UFC’s heavyweight roster when the promotion picked him up in 2016, but it’s still surprising that he might be one win away from a title shot this quickly. Volkov’s a perfectly fine fighter and does a much better job of using his tall frame better than Stefan Struve ever has, but he’s also not all that inspiring. The 6-foot-7 Russian isn’t a particularly dynamic fighter, and given his height, defensive wrestling has always remained a huge problem, even if Volkov falls back on a decent enough submission game to try and defend himself. Volkov’s competent enough that his rise through the lower and middle reaches of heavyweight wasn’t surprising, but he earned a surprising breakout win over Fabricio Werdum in March. Werdum was able to take Volkov down at will, but Volkov’s bottom game proved strong enough to allow him to survive and finish an exhausted Werdum late in the fight. That’s still probably more of a sign that the division is aging around Volkov rather the Russian making any new improvements, so there’s still some question about how Volkov will fare against the divisional elite. Is Lewis among the divisional elite?
Lewis has been looming as a heavyweight contender for a while now, but it’s still weird to see him get there, given that his style shouldn’t work. Lewis was an interesting talent when he made his UFC debut a few years back. He hits hard, moves surprisingly well for a man his size and has off-the-charts levels of personality. However, two losses in three fights, particularly a 41-second knockout loss to Matt Mitrione, proved that Lewis has a shocking lack of durability and seemingly closed the book on him as any sort of contender. Lewis would rebound and improve slightly, but it was still a bit crazy to see him rattle off a six-fight winning streak and shoot up the heavyweight ranks, doing little else but waiting for an opening to hit his opponent extraordinarily hard. Lewis’ run came to an end against Mark Hunt, as Hunt was able to pick Lewis apart and tire him out; Lewis shockingly retired after the bout, only to come back a few months later. His return has seen him become a top contender, but the win over Francis Ngannou that got him over the hump was a legendarily awful bout. Lewis’ fights are often snoozers up until the finish, as he is content to wait out his opponent. In the fight with Ngannou, both men were scared of each other’s power, and Lewis won an unwatchable decision by doing slightly less nothing. It certainly wasn’t pretty, but I guess it worked, so now Lewis has a shot to become the top contender at heavyweight with a win against Volkov.
Lewis is sort of an IQ test that a surprising number of top heavyweights have failed. While his power is considerable, it’s up to his opponents not to get scared off by it, as Lewis isn’t that skilled of a striker. A lot of opponents have made the mistake of trying to outwrestle Lewis. He does a surprisingly good job of surviving on the ground, and the end result is usually his opponent tiring themselves out and eating a knockout punch late in the fight. Volkov has no wrestling game, so the latter shouldn’t be a concern. Basically, it comes down to whether or not Volkov feels comfortable enough to outstrike Lewis, which he should be able to do. Volkov’s size and length should serve him well here, as he should be able to pick Lewis off at a distance without getting scared off and possibly hit a knockout shot. Still, the pick is Volkov to take this via decision.
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