“Sergei has a very good trait…” Volkov fought with Pavlovich and fought with Aspinel – now he analyzes their fight

They were supposed to fight at UFC 295 on November 12 Jon Jones And Stipe Miocic . Jones was injured and the fight for the interim belt was fought for the second and sixth numbers in the heavyweight rankings, Sergei Pavlovich And Tom Aspinel .

Sergei is 31 years old, he has six consecutive victories in the first rounds and the last four have been won over a period of 13 months. For six months, he has been training non-stop in Florida. In 18 fights, Pavlovich lost only once. Aspinel, 30, lost three times, but once injured his leg 15 seconds into the fight and once was disqualified for illegal elbows. Of his 13 victories, 100% have come ahead of schedule, including elbows, knees, clean knockouts and spectacular technicals.

In March 2022, it was very difficult to say all this about Sergei Pavlovich. He trained in the Strela gymnasium with Alexander Volkov, had not competed for two years and had statistics in the UFC that did not promise anything to anyone – one defeat and two victories. NOW Volkov gave an interview to , sharing his thoughts on the upcoming fight between Pavlovich and Aspinel.

— In March 2022, I was at your sparring with Sergei Pavlovich, as you prepared to fight Tom Aspinel. Then, after five rounds, you sat down to play the “Four in a Row” logic game. But maybe there was a time when you talked about Aspinel after training instead?

— I have the impression that Sergei and I didn’t really discuss Aspinel at the time. But I believe that a lot will depend on the form in which Aspinel approaches the fight. As I see from Sergei’s social networks and, in principle, from the fact that he was preparing to be a reserve in the fight, that is, he kept himself in shape to compete on November 12 , in general, its condition should be good.

Sergey has an advantage in overall strength and punching power. I see that many are already predicting victory for him in this fight, and generally he does what he always does, I wish him that, but Aspinel needs to be taken more seriously, taken apart and studied. Aspinel faster, it can be more diverse. He’s more technical, he’s a thinker, some fights in the UFC have gone beyond the first round.

— What advice would you give to Pavlovich if he asked you?

– Maintain the strength and style he had in previous fights. Pressure, pressure, lack of space for the opponent to move. You must be able to implement all this, because Aspinel will try to avoid such a development of events by deception, kicks, and perhaps also attack him. If Pavlovich can bring the pressure to bear in his style, I think he will have a very good chance of winning.

— Aspinel is said to have strong jiu-jitsu, but I read that he was a sparring partner of Tyson Fury and that his boxing is good. Is this obvious?

“When I was preparing I was just watching his fights, I hadn’t read any information about him and naturally I understood what his strengths were. I understood that he knew how to fight and hit. But this is also noticeable in his fights. It seems to me that his particularity is that it is difficult to catch him making a mistake. Thanks to his speed and tactics, he makes few mistakes. Or if he makes a mistake, he manages to correct that mistake. It seems to me that it was easier in this sense with Pavlovich’s previous opponents. The Aspinel is lighter, it will not fit into the wheelhouse, in direct contact. I think he will somehow try to cheat, change levels, or get into a fight.

— What to expect on the ground if Sergei’s base is Greco-Roman wrestling and Aspinel has a black belt in jiu-jitsu? Will Aspinel be able to transfer Pavlovich?

— In the later rounds I think he can, but this fight still has to reach the later rounds. Firstly, Sergei is physically strong and his strength will play into his hands. On the ground, Sergey works well from above. Can hold well, hit, control well. In general, strength is very forgiving. It’s like Ngannou. He was a basic person: neither a wrestler nor a boxer, but thanks to his power, he was excellent. It was difficult to knock him down in the first few rounds, but then Miocic succeeded. And now I’m training in Vegas with pretty much the same guys who trained with Ngannou, they say at first he was very weak on the court, even though he was strong physically. But little by little he grew up, forcefully overcoming some of his mistakes. Sergey is generally the same, but he has a good foundation in stand-up wrestling and has been training on the ground for a long time.

— How do you prepare for a fighter like that who comes out and blows you away?

– A strong hit is an advantage that must be taken into account. The basic method, I think, is to watch a lot of video of your opponent and understand when he throws certain punches. Basically, you need to understand what kind of hits he gets. The same Ngannou has a good left side, an uppercut, maybe a right cross, but not every time. And constantly notice that you cannot stay in this place. This is actually a very quick thought that you should always have.

—When the battle begins, what will you want to pay attention to?

“It will be interesting to see how they start to take up space in the Octagon. Some of them will put pressure, others, on the contrary, will try to play the role of number two. The most interesting thing is who exactly will take the initiative, who will have it from the start. Because the transience of the fight will depend on it. I think in any case it will be interesting: Sergey can strike at any time, Aspinel will stay fresh for a long time.

— Or it could be that the first round will be boring, because it will be important for Aspinel not to let the new Pavlovich hit himself, and, for example, he will light up from the second or third?

— Sergei has a good trait (that’s why he is compared to Ngannou) – he knows how to competently take the initiative at the start and keep his opponent within striking distance. Why Blaydes couldn’t make a pass, and Tuivasa or Lewis couldn’t hit it, because he basically kept his opponent within striking distance. And he himself pressed them against the net and, when the opponent had nowhere to run, he crushed them. If he maintains this sense of initiative with Aspinel, then Aspinel won’t be back for long. Then he’ll have to cut and make some sort of contact. And I don’t know how it’s going to end. But you can’t just run away. Aspinel, in principle, can work well as a number two, but aggressively, causing damage with intimidating punches, legs and passes. It is unlikely that a single round will be boring.

— Tom Aspinall found out he would be fighting in New York while he was in England, 18 days before the fight. Will he even have time to acclimatize?

“I think it’s important that you have at least 10 days.” Or eight. Before the fight with Blaydes, I had some difficulties with the elimination, but in nine days I managed to acclimatize normally.

—Are you surprised the fight between Miocic and Jones didn’t happen?

“I can’t say I’m very surprised.” If anything, I’d be ready if they both stopped playing after this fight. Even if Jones had won, there would only be young guys left in the heavyweight division, and both were only interested in very high-level fights. But there are no names yet. Basically nothing changes for the cruiserweight division at the moment unless one of them returns, but I doubt it.

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