The UFC has finalized a banger of a heavyweight matchup between two heavyweight knockout artists. MMA Junkie was the first to report earlier today that “Bam Bam” Tai Tuivasa (15-5) will return in September to take on “Drago” Alexander Volkov (36-10).
The bout will take place in Australia at UFC 293 on September 9th. Volkov will be searching for his third consecutive win when these two meet in September. The last time we saw Volkov was when he took on Alexandr Romanov back in March.
He stopped Romanov in the first round. Prior to that, he defeated Jairzinho Rozenstruik in the first round as well. Currently Volkov is ranked seventh in the division, one spot behind Tuivasa. If he wins in September, he might just be a win or two away from a title shot.
UFC 293
As 2019 came to a close, Tai Tuivasa’s career was in trouble. He had lost three fights in a row and was briefly cut from the UFC. However, he started taking his career more seriously and things really started to take off. Tuivasa won five straight fights.
After he knocked out Derrick Lewis, he was given a headliner in Paris against Ciryl Gane. Gane was too much for Tuivasa and stopped him in the third round. Following that, Tuivasa turned around to take on Sergei Pavlovich and was once again stopped.
Now, he’s looking down the barrel at a potential three-fight losing streak. He needs a win in the worst way and he’s going to look to do it on home soil at UFC 293.