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Ex-Bellator champ Alexander Volkov debuts with promotion vs. Timothy Johnson at UFC Fight Night 99
Ex-Bellator champ Alexander Volkov debuts with promotion vs. Timothy Johnson at UFC Fight Night 99
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By: Matt Erickson | September 29, 2016 1:00 pm
The UFC has another new heavyweight in its ranks – and he’s a former Bellator champion.
Alexander Volkov (26-6 MMA, 0-0 UFC) has signed with the UFC, a promotion official today confirmed to MMAjunkie, and will meet Timothy Johnson (10-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 99 in November in Northern Ireland.
UFC Fight Night 99 takes place Nov. 19 at SSE Arena in Belfast, and the entire card streams on UFC Fight Pass, though the bout order hasn’t been finalized. It’s the first of two cards on Nov. 19; UFC Fight Night 100 takes place later in the day in Brazil.
Alexander Volkov
Fighting exclusively in Russia and the Ukraine through the first 19 fights of his pro career, Volkov signed with Bellator in 2012 and ran the table in the promotion’s Season 7 heavyweight tournament to become its first heavyweight champ. He took a decision from Brett Rogers at Bellator 75 in the quarterfinals, knocked out Vinicius Queiroz at Bellator 80 in the semifinals and took a unanimous decision from Richard Hale at Bellator 84 in December 2012 to win the belt.
But in his first defense, 11 months later at Bellator 108, he was stopped by Vitaly Minakov with a first-round TKO and surrendered his belt. He bounced back by winning the Season 10 heavyweight tournament, which should have earned him a title shot against Minakov. But Cheick Kongo was ahead of him in line, and lost to the champ at Bellator 115. Volkov never got another crack at Minakov – who was stripped of his title after not defending it for two years, but fighting elsewhere.
Volkov dropped a split decision to Tony Johnson at Bellator 136 in April 2015, then lost a decision to Kongo at Bellator 139 and subsequently was released from the promotion. But he bounced back this year with a submission win over Denis Smoldarev at M-1 Challenge 64 to win that promotion’s heavyweight title, then in June knocked out Attila Vegh to defend it.
Timothy Johnson
Johnson made his UFC debut in April 2015 with a first-round TKO win over Shamil Abdurakhimov in Virginia. But his next trip to the octagon, at UFC Fight Night 74 in Nashville, was a decision loss to Jared Rosholt. But the Minnesota-born North Dakotan bounced back in April with a unanimous decision win over Marcin Tybura in Croatia, giving him nine wins in his past 10 fights – with eight by stoppage.
With the addition, the latest UFC Fight Night 99 card now includes:
Dong Hyun Kim vs. Gunnar Nelson
Ian McCall vs. Neil Seery
James Krause vs. Ross Pearson
Amanda Cooper vs. Anna Elmose
Mark Godbeer vs. Justin Ledet
Timothy Johnson vs. Alexander Volkov
Ex-Bellator champ Alexander Volkov debuts with promotion vs. Timothy Johnson at UFC Fight Night 99
556
SHARES
By: Matt Erickson | September 29, 2016 1:00 pm
The UFC has another new heavyweight in its ranks – and he’s a former Bellator champion.
Alexander Volkov (26-6 MMA, 0-0 UFC) has signed with the UFC, a promotion official today confirmed to MMAjunkie, and will meet Timothy Johnson (10-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 99 in November in Northern Ireland.
UFC Fight Night 99 takes place Nov. 19 at SSE Arena in Belfast, and the entire card streams on UFC Fight Pass, though the bout order hasn’t been finalized. It’s the first of two cards on Nov. 19; UFC Fight Night 100 takes place later in the day in Brazil.
Alexander Volkov
Fighting exclusively in Russia and the Ukraine through the first 19 fights of his pro career, Volkov signed with Bellator in 2012 and ran the table in the promotion’s Season 7 heavyweight tournament to become its first heavyweight champ. He took a decision from Brett Rogers at Bellator 75 in the quarterfinals, knocked out Vinicius Queiroz at Bellator 80 in the semifinals and took a unanimous decision from Richard Hale at Bellator 84 in December 2012 to win the belt.
But in his first defense, 11 months later at Bellator 108, he was stopped by Vitaly Minakov with a first-round TKO and surrendered his belt. He bounced back by winning the Season 10 heavyweight tournament, which should have earned him a title shot against Minakov. But Cheick Kongo was ahead of him in line, and lost to the champ at Bellator 115. Volkov never got another crack at Minakov – who was stripped of his title after not defending it for two years, but fighting elsewhere.
Volkov dropped a split decision to Tony Johnson at Bellator 136 in April 2015, then lost a decision to Kongo at Bellator 139 and subsequently was released from the promotion. But he bounced back this year with a submission win over Denis Smoldarev at M-1 Challenge 64 to win that promotion’s heavyweight title, then in June knocked out Attila Vegh to defend it.
Timothy Johnson
Johnson made his UFC debut in April 2015 with a first-round TKO win over Shamil Abdurakhimov in Virginia. But his next trip to the octagon, at UFC Fight Night 74 in Nashville, was a decision loss to Jared Rosholt. But the Minnesota-born North Dakotan bounced back in April with a unanimous decision win over Marcin Tybura in Croatia, giving him nine wins in his past 10 fights – with eight by stoppage.
With the addition, the latest UFC Fight Night 99 card now includes:
Dong Hyun Kim vs. Gunnar Nelson
Ian McCall vs. Neil Seery
James Krause vs. Ross Pearson
Amanda Cooper vs. Anna Elmose
Mark Godbeer vs. Justin Ledet
Timothy Johnson vs. Alexander Volkov
