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UFC Fight Night: Blaydes v Volkov
Sunday 21 June 2020
UFC APEX Facility, Las Vegas
Main card scheduled to begin at 03:00 CAT
Alexander Volkov, known as ‘Drago’, will be aiming to boost his prospects in the heavyweight division when he faces Curtis Blaydes in the main event of
UFC Fight Night: Blaydes v Volkov, set for the UFC APEX Facility in Las Vegas on Sunday 21 June 2020.
The 31-year-old Volkov (31-7-0) has won seven of his last eight matches dating back to early 2016 and was last in action in November 2019 when he defeated Greg Hardy via unanimous decision in Moscow.
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“I am focused on the fight ahead, not the distant future,” Volkov said. “I will make this fight fireworks and I will make this fight hell for my opponent. This is all I am thinking now.”
Blaydes (13-2-0, 1 NC) is on a run of three straight wins, defeating Justin Willis, Shamil Abdurakhimov and Junior dos Santos since March last year, and a fourth could put him in line to challenge Stipe Miocic in the coming months – though the division champion says he has been unable to train recently due to his commitments as a part-time firefighter paramedic in Ohio. This has seen Blaydes call for the title holder to make a decision on his future.
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“So, when [Miocic] chooses a job and commits himself, we deserve a champion who is committed to continually proving that he is the champion. If you can’t do that for the foreseeable future, that’s fine. But delaying the division isn’t fair to all the other guys who continually work for a title shot,” said ‘Razor’.
This UFC Fight Night will also feature a middleweight clash between Marc-Andre Barriault (11-4-0) and Oskar Piechota (11-3-1) on the preliminary card. Barriault, known as ‘PowerBar’, has reached the do-or-die phase of his UFC career, having lost three fights in a row since joining the series last year.
The 30-year-old Canadian has recently called out Eryk Anders – “Not impressed @erykanders see you soon YaBoi,” he Tweeted – but he’ll need to overcome Piechota (also on a three-fight losing streak) if he is to have the chance down the road.
The main card features a co-main event which pits Josh Emmett against Shane Burgos in the featherweight division, Raquel Pennington looking to bounce back from her loss to Holly Holm in January when she takes on fellow bantamweight Marion Reneau, Lyman Good v Belal Muhammed in the welterweight class, and a catchweight clash between Jim Miller and Roosevelt Roberts.
UFC Fight Night: Blaydes v Volkov, Main card
Main event: Heavyweight: Curtis Blaydes v Alexander Volkov
Co-main event: Featherweight: Josh Emmett v Shane Burgos
Women’s Bantamweight: Raquel Pennington v Marion Reneau
Welterweight: Lyman Good v Belal Muhammad
Catchweight: Jim Miller v Roosevelt Roberts
UFC Fight Night: Blaydes v Volkov, Preliminary card
Lightweight: Clay Guida v Bobby Green
Women’s Strawweight: Tecia Torres v Brianna Van Buren
Middleweight: Marc-Andre Barriault v Oskar Piechota
Women’s Flyweight: Gillian Robertson v Cortney Casey
Lightweight: Frank Camacho v Matt Frevola
Women’s Flyweight: Roxanne Modafferi v Lauren Murphy
Lightweight: Austin Hubbard v Joe Solecki
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