UFC News: Heavyweights Nearly Come to Blows After Fight Night Bout in Saudi Arabia

In the co-feature bout of a UFC Fight Night event in Saudi Arabia, heavyweights Sergei Pavlovich and Alexander Volkov traded leather.

Sergei Pavlovich shoves Alexander Volkov following his unanimous decision loss at UFC Fight Night in Saudi Arabia. / (via UFC)

The co-main event of today's UFC Fight Night card in Saudi Arabia featured a heavyweight collision between Alexander Volkov and Sergei Pavlovich, and things got testy following the bout.

This was Pavlovich's first fight since suffering a first-round knockout loss at the hands of Tom Aspinall in their interim UFC Heavyweight Championship fight last year. It was just the second defeat in Pavlovich's pro MMA career.

Volkov was hoping to extend his winning streak to four. He was riding high going into this one having scored finishing wins over Tai Tuivasa, Alexander Romanov, and Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

The two heavyweights went all three rounds, and Alexander Volkov earned the unanimous decision win.

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Sergei Pavlovich vs. Alexander Volkov - Round 1

Volkov went for a jab into a calf kick. It was clear early on that Volkov was looking to fight on the outside and maintain distance.

A sharp body kick connected for Volkov. Pavlovich answered with a stiff jab. Volkov was doing a good job avoiding danger thanks to how he utilized range.

Some blood started to show from the nose of Sergei at the end of round one.

Round 2

Pavolovich went high with a kick. Sergei looked to close the distance, loading up on punches. Volkov connected with a kick to the body.

Pavlovich was able to connect with a hard punch, but he wasn't closing the distance enough. Volkov's jabs were doing damage to the left eye of Sergei.

Look good, feel good 🙂@AlexDragoVolkov stays sauve#UFCSaudiArabia | #RiyadhSeason pic.twitter.com/ORpoXQf9ym

— UFC (@ufc) June 22, 2024

Round 3

Sergei began moving forward and landed a combination. Volkov wasn't afraid to fire back, even backing his opponent up. Volkov's low kicks and jabs kept giving Sergei problems.

In the end, Pavolvich couldn't get to the chin of Volkov, and he lost this won via unanimous decision with scores of 30-27, 30-27, and 29-28.

After the fight, Pavlovich shoved Volkov in a clear sign of frustration.

😬😬😬

[ #UFCSaudiArabia | @RiyadhSeason | #RiyadhSeason ] pic.twitter.com/wLOzqzgu0m

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) June 22, 2024

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