Alexander Volkov feels happy with his win over Jairzinho Rozenstruik at UFC Vegas 56, even if there are questions about the timing of the stoppage.
The end came after Volkov slammed Rozenstruik with a straight right hand down the middle that rocked the Surinamer heavyweight and put him on rubber legs. As Volkov began to launch punches at Rozenstruik in quick succession, Rozenstruik switched into survival mode and tried to defend himself while dropping to his knees as he took the punishment.
With Volkov still unloading strikes and no sign that Rozenstruik would escape, referee Herb Dean stepped in to stop the contest. Rozenstruik protested the end of the fight immediately afterward, even though replays showed that he was hurt, but he wasn’t dropped to the floor.
“It’s not my fault anyway,” Volkov said at the UFC Vegas 56 post-fight press conference when addressing the stoppage. “The referee stopped that.
” In the moment I hit him. He was slightly knocked out, so he wasn’t feeling fully refreshed. It was an excellent opportunity to get him off the ground and land, as he was just about on the mat. I was ready to throw him down and continue my work.”
One thing perfectly clear was Rozenstruik being in serious trouble even if he wasn’t completely out on his feet, which is what made Volkov feel like the ending was justified.
Regardless of how he saw the stoppage, Volkov also knows he has no control over the referee, because it’s Dean’s decision to determine how much a fighter can take before he’s seen enough to end it.
“[Rozenstruik] was a poor position,” Volkov stated. “The referee stopped the fight. The referee stopped the fight because he had been in an awkward position. He took some heavy punches, and was slightly knocked out. It’s not my fault but ask this of the referee, not me. I did my job .”
More than anything, Volkov was just happy to get back in the win column after a disappointing performance against Tom Aspinall at UFC London back in March.
On this night, Volkov lost his first round submission, the fastest defeat that he has ever experienced in UFC.
Now he is looking forward to building on this win and helping Volkov maintain his status as one of top heavyweight fighters at the UFC.
” I’m happy to be back with a winning streak,” Volkov stated. “I’m happy to come back with a win. I’m just happy. I did all the plan I had in this fight. It was perfect. Nothing went wrong. Everything’s good.”
Volkov doesn’t know who he will face next with the heavyweights he has already booked to fight.
Although he didn’t want to name anyone, Volkov addressed two possible rematches when he was asked about Derrick Lewis. This fight was one Volkov was winning until he was caught by a third-round haymaker and lost the bout.
To hear Volkov say it, this is not a matchup that he wants to return to, but there are other rematches that might be of interest to him, if he was offered.
” “It doesn’t matter to me whether I win other fights or revenge,” Volkov said. “I’m ready for any challenge. Any challenge would be good but maybe I want to rematch with [Ciryl] Gane because this fight was close. With Derrick Lewis, I won all the rounds and then I just took this punch. It was good for him. Although he was very good at his punch, it wasn’t a problem for me.
“For me, I like more challenges, and right now, for me, I think that rematch with Gane because I respect him very much, about his stand-up work, about everything, it’s very interesting for me to meet him again. I’m ready for any challenge against any fighters, any time.”
The only thing Volkov wants to fulfill after Saturday’s match is to find an opponent that will allow him to get closer to the title contention. But outside of that, he’s just anxious to return home to his family.
“I understands I need some more wins to get the title shot,” Volkov said. “I’m ready for any fights to get those wins. That’s it.”
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