Volkov is more than just the HW gatekeeper. Who else still believes he can go higher.

[SaigeVanZant]

The scorecard against Gane doesn't seem fair TBH.

In round 3 you can hear (in french) Gane's corner screaming "You're losing ,you're down 2 round already, let's go, let's fucking go, move forward and boxe if you want to win!!"

Volkov gave good opposition with his low kick in first rounds, making Gane miss and pay.
But Volkov is in the downhill and Gane is not yet in his technical MMA prime ,so the rematch will likely be worse for Volkov

Gane dominated that fight

 

[TheHitMan]

Volkov is a loser, not a winner.

He beat the brakes off of Derek Lewis, had him out on his feet — twice — and then mysteriously tried to "be nice" and let up on the dude.

If Volkov had a killer instinct he would have beat Lewis, easily. Quite frankly, he deserved to get KO'd by Lewis in the last stanza, for letting Lewis back in the fight.

In this most recent effort, Volkov started out okay, but quickly became sluggish and slack-jawed. He will never be a champion and is not Champion material.

He's just a guy come in in there for a paycheck.

True champions seize the moment, finish when they can, and are looking to decisively win at all times.

 

[grimballer]

The term gatekeeper isn't negative at all. It's imo one of the more badass positions in the sport.

A gatekeeper to me is what separates the good ones and the great ones.

A good example of a high level gatekeeper is Brunson. That man only let the great ones pass through the gate. If you beat him, you're good enough to fight for the title. That's where Volkov is currently. You beat Volkov, you will probably go on to do great things.

yup gatekeeper separates pretenders and contenders. you beat a gatekeeper and you're considered legit. you lose to gatekeeper and you have to reevaluate your career.

volkov is at that spot right now.

 

[grimballer]

He’s relatively low output but I think he can beat Stipe and Francis, the problems for him are Ganeand Blaydes

thats a good point

bad match up for him are gane and blaydes

on the other habd he matches well against stipe and francis

if either stipe or francis are champs he might have a shot

 

[13Seconds]

Gate keeper is not a badass thing. Its like saying the doorman is badass. Thats what the gatekeeper analogy refers to. Youre a stepping stone for the ranked fighters.

Depends how you look at it.

But no, that's not what the analogy refers to. Otherwise it would just be called doorman.

 

[Street Samurai]

He won't. He's too pedestrian to beat the best guys in the division. I see him always falling short against the best, but beating those in the lower top 10. I think gatekeeper, non-pejoratively, is the perfect definition for him

 

[Grapplefest]

The way he looked against Tybura he should be cut from the UFC

 

[trenton123]

But when you are top 10, you ain't a gatekeeper. I think Volkov is better than a gatekeeper.

I still think he can beat a lot of guys. HE's tall, can use his reach, brown belt in BJJ, improved TDs, dangerous striker.

I just think he's not good enough to be in the top echeleon, but hey, it's nothing to scoff at, to be top 10 in the world.

I have him as a top 5 heavyweight. Which I would say is top echelon. He probably beats Lewis in a rematch, could see him beating Blaydes in a rematch, Stipe is a toss up, and those other 2 guys are clearly ahead of him.

 

[pankrat]

He sucks. Russian Struve.

Pretty bad take, mate

 

[pankrat]

The top 7 are

Ngannou - hasn't fought
Gane - lost
Stipe - hasn't fought
Lewis - lost
Blaydes - lost

Rozenstruik - hasn't fought
Volkov

His recent win over Tybura, who is ranked 11th, was solid, snapped a 5 fight streak but he was expected to beat him. Volkov is 8-3 in the UFC, all good named opponents and his only losses are to top 5 fighters. Stipe seems to be out of action at the moment, if he ever fights again, so ideally Volkov would fight Rozenstruik next, even if he is coming off a loss. Striker vs striker and Volkov is the bigger, better striker. Otherwise of those ranked above him he should be favoured to beat Lewis in a rematch, he dominated 99% of that fight before relaxing 10 seconds too early.

The Blaydes fight all 3 judges gave Volkov round 5 and 2 of them gave him round 4. For all his takedowns Blaydes did very little damage with his GnP. Only Ngannou and Lewis have been able to solve that puzzle so far but I don't see why Volkov can't do what they did, he weighs 263lbs now which means more stopping power to punish attempts to close the distance as well as more strength and weight to counter the TD and at 33 he is still improving, Tybura got nowhere with his wrestling. Ok Blaydes wrestles better than Tybura but I think Volkov could get the nod in a rematch in 2022.

Volkov took Gane, the unbeaten interim champion, the distance, even if it was 50-45, 50-45, 49-46 in sig strikes the difference was only 135-115 and Volkov was never in any danger. That's a rematch for a little further down the road but there's no reason it wouldn't be competitive again. Gane can be figured out the same as anyone else. As for Ngannou sure if he connects he can knock anyone out but if Gane can beat him so can Volkov the same way.

So to sum up Volkov is an upwardly mobile HW with the tools to beat anyone in the division and I see him fighting for the belt in the future. Very experienced, still only 33, one of the best strikers at HW, 6'7" 263lbs, strong TDD and can take guys down and GnP them if he wants, all his losses were very competitive and he's still improving, he can take revenge.

I don't think so, although he might get to fight for the tittle.
If Minakov was in UFC, Volkov would have even a harder time to upgrade from his gatekeeper status.

 

[pankrat]

I have him as a top 5 heavyweight. Which I would say is top echelon. He probably beats Lewis in a rematch, could see him beating Blaydes in a rematch, Stipe is a toss up, and those other 2 guys are clearly ahead of him.

I think Minakov beats him again in a rematch.

 

[JustOnce]

I have him as a top 5 heavyweight. Which I would say is top echelon. He probably beats Lewis in a rematch, could see him beating Blaydes in a rematch, Stipe is a toss up, and those other 2 guys are clearly ahead of him.

Top echelon is subjective thing, he just feels a little slow...just not good enough

 

[Hypetrainhipsta]

The way he looked against Tybura he should be cut from the UFC

TBF, who the hell looks good against Tybura? If you aren't a huge puncher who is able to take him out it's always going to be an ugly affair.

 

[spinup]

He’s relatively low output but I think he can beat Stipe and Francis, the problems for him are Ganeand Blaydes

thats a good point

bad match up for him are gane and blaydes

on the other habd he matches well against stipe and francis

if either stipe or francis are champs he might have a shot

I really don't understand how people can think he matches well against Stipe or Ngannou. Volkov's main weakness is that he gets easily punched in the face and doesn't react well to getting punched in the face. He has no head movement and pretty much no guard either, just relies on being tall and long.
That's how Gane beat him, that's how Lewis beat him, that's how Minakov beat him and that's what Tybura did that caused him problems.

Now who is the best at punching people in the face? Who made a career and became UFC champ by punching people in the face? Who has a longer reach than Volkov, a granite chin, gets body punched for fun at the gym, and hits like a high speed freight train? You get the idea...

 

[fzoid4454]

Did you think that Volkov looked particularly impressive in his latest outing? I didn't see anything that said to me "this guy is GOING places."

 

[GolovKing]

He’s relatively low output but I think he can beat Stipe and Francis, the problems for him are Ganeand Blaydes

Lol how convenient. He can beat the champ and former champ if he gets an opportunity. Never mind the fact that he got completely dominated by contenders who both have completely different styles from one another

 

[CerebralKnievel]

Gate keeper is not a badass thing. Its like saying the doorman is badass. Thats what the gatekeeper analogy refers to. Youre a stepping stone for the ranked fighters.

Gatekeeper

 

[Boxingfan998]

He definitely has the ability to take the belt.
Problem is I don't see him winning against Gane or Ngannou.
We shall see but I always watch Volkov fights, as he's a very interesting HW IMO.

 

[Boxingfan998]

Top echelon is subjective thing, he just feels a little slow...just not good enough

When he gets going and throws strikes, he's very good though (IE: Walt Harris, Overeem, fights).
Some of the best striking at HW.
But when he's just standing, more explosive & fast fighters like Gane would piece him up.

 

[JustOnce]

When he gets going and throws strikes, he's very good though (IE: Walt Harris, Overeem, fights).
Some of the best striking at HW.
But when he's just standing, more explosive & fast fighters like Gane would piece him up.

yeah but that's IF he throws strikes