Top heavyweight contenders are set to clash this summer.
At UFC 302 on June 1st, No. 6 ranked Alexander Volkov will take on No. 7 Jailton Almeida in a fight between two men in the rankings. The pay-per-view event will be held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The big booking was first reported by Super Lutas on Monday.
Russia's Volkov has been average in recent times. After losing to interim champion Tom Aspinall, 'Drago' bounced back with three consecutive finishes at UFC 293 in September over Jairzinho Rozenstryk, Aleksandr Romanov, and most recently Tai Tuivasa.
The 35-year-old Volkov has been at his best in recent years and a victory over Almeida will show whether he can sustain a career resurgence.
Almeida is coming off the biggest fight of his career at UFC 299. His high-profile contender ran into Curtis Blaydes and was beating a wrestler who was outstanding at his own match…that is, until he wasn't. Almeida won the first round, but fell to ground and pound while trying to get a takedown against “Razor” Blaydes.
The TKO loss ended Almeida's winning streak at 15 and dropped the Brazilian's perfect record in the UFC to 6-1. However, “Malhazinho'' is once again fighting at the top of his game against the higher-ranked Volkov, so this is not a huge setback.
Check out how the UFC 302 card is shaping up with this powerful addition.
- Alexander Volkov vs. Geirton Almeida
- Roman Dorise vs. Anthony Hernandez
- Joselyn Edwards vs. Aylin Perez
- Mickey Gall vs. Bashir Hafez
- Grant Dawson vs. Joe Solecki
- Michelle Waterson-Gomez vs. Gillian Robertson
Alexander Volkov vs. Geirton Almeida is a striker vs. grappler matchup, but the question arises as to which style will win at UFC 302.
