The UFC is on fire with fight announcements today. Dana White told ESPN this afternoon that the promotion is finalizing the headliner for their card on February 6th. It’s a good one in the heavyweight division.
Per White, the UFC is booking Alistair Overeem (47-18, 1 NC) against Alexander Volkov (32-8) in a five round main event. Both of these contenders currently rank in the top six of the UFC‘s heavyweight division.
Alistair Overeem is in the final chapters of his incredible career. He’s held titles in just about every promotion he’s competed in outside of the UFC. That is the one title that has seemed to allude him throughout his career.
The 40 year old knows this run will be his final run. In 2020, Overeem has stopped Walt Harris and Augusto Sakai in two great performances. To end 2019, he was stopped by Jairzinho Rozenstruik in the final seconds of a fight he controlled.
Prior to that loss, Overeem had won two straight. At 4-1 in his last five fights, it appears that Overeem is only a win or two away from a UFC title shot. However, there will be a tough Russian standing in his way on February 6th.
UFC Heavyweight Clash
We just saw Alexander Volkov compete back at UFC 254. It was honestly one of the more impressive performances I’ve seen from Volkov. He took out Walt Harris in the second round of their heavyweight battle.
In that fight, Volkov did such a great job of sniping Harris from range. That was the version of Alexander Volkov that many believe could be a UFC title challenger one day. He’s getting a big chance with a headliner against Alistair Overeem.
This should be a fantastic matchup and I’m very curious to watch it play out. Both of these men are very decorated strikers so you’d think it would take place on the feet. However, we’ve seen Overeem go to his wrestling lately.
Perhaps Overeem leans on the grappling in a fight against another top level striker. Time will tell, but it should be a fantastic matchup in the UFC‘s heavyweight division.