For the vast majority of mixed martial arts enthusiasts, reaching the pinnacle of the Ultimate Fighting Championship means holding an undisputed claim as the absolute best fighter in the world within a given weight class. The promotion has long dominated the MMA market to the point where its championship gold serves as the ultimate standard of athletic excellence. However, for heavyweight veteran Alexander Volkov, that foundational understanding of what a UFC title represents has shifted dramatically in recent times, leading him to question the criteria currently driving the sport’s most prestigious matchups.
Volkov’s frustration stems from a trajectory that has seen him win six of his past seven bouts, with his only blemish during that dominant stretch coming via a controversial split decision against current undisputed heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane. Despite positioning himself firmly at the top of the division, Volkov watched as Gane subsequently received high-profile title opportunities against top contenders and crossover opponents, while the Russian veteran found himself booked to defend his standing against rising names rather than fighting directly for the belt he feels he has earned through sheer athletic merit. The changing landscape of championship matchmaking has left the former Bellator heavyweight champion openly evaluating the shifting value of a UFC belt.
Earlier this year, Volkov did not mince words when discussing the promotional direction of the division, telling MMA Fighting that pairing Gane against Alex Pereira for an interim belt felt “more like a promotional or media fight than a true title fight.” After watching Gane navigate controversial moments—including fouls during the high-profile UFC White House match—and subsequently get paired against loud, personality-driven contenders, Volkov began to see an entirely new meaning associated with holding UFC gold.
Ahead of his return to the Octagon, Volkov elaborated on his shifting perspective regarding the sport’s highest honor. While acknowledging that holding the physical belt still makes someone a champion on paper, he questioned whether the championship maintains the integrity that fans historically demand from combat sports.
“Is Ciryl Gane a real champion right now? He is real if he has a belt,” Volkov said ahead of UFC 333. “लेकिन what means his belt right now? This is the question. Maybe it loses the meaning all fans want it to have. Like, we want to trust it’s the most powerful, skilled fighter in the world. As, for example, it was like K-1 in the past, when you just fought eight fighters like the same day. It was a show, but the main thing was just fighting, you know? But now we can get fights, title shots for just being more famous, and doesn’t matter how you became famous. It doesn’t matter what you do, and you took the fight just because most people know you and they want you to be beaten or win the fight.”
Volkov pointed directly to the current champion’s track record and the types of opponents waiting in the wings to illustrate his point about how promotional star power can outweigh sporting merit in modern mixed martial arts.
“The belt has the meaning of the fighter who has it right now,” he continued. “If we talk about Gane, he has the belt. We can see he is a champion for having this belt. So the meaning of the belt is like that, a champion who can eye poke somebody in a fight, kick a groin or do something else, and then knock out guys and become a champion because he hurt another champion before. Now, the meaning of the belt is the same. Then he will fight with a guy who is just very loud right now, kind of showman. If he would take this belt, the meaning of the belt is that now you should be a showman to get the belt.”
Despite the current climate favoring entertainment value and mainstream notoriety, Volkov remains steadfast in his vision of what martial arts championships should ultimately represent. He believes that the pendulum will eventually swing back toward pure athletic dominance rather than microphoned spectacle.
“But one day it will be about a fighter who just can beat everybody, not speak a lot, do it like there’s no cheating or something like that, and be just a martial artist. This belt will have this meaning. If I will have the belt, the belt will have meaning,” Volkov stated.
The heavyweight division continues to experience rapid and unpredictable movement around him. Alex Pereira, currently sporting an 0-1 record in the heavyweight division, is scheduled to face Sergei Pavlovich in the co-main event of UFC 335 on December 12. A victory for the former two-division champion could potentially fast-track him into yet another historic opportunity, placing him on the cusp of an unprecedented third UFC title across different weight classes.
Meanwhile, Volkov has had to forge his own path through the elite ranks. Despite stringing together impressive victories over opponents like Waldo Cortes-Acosta and Jailton Almeida, Volkov found himself booked against lower-ranked opposition at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi, where he faced Rizvan Kuniev.
In the lead-up to that event, Volkov solidified his long-term future with the organization by signing a brand new, highly lucrative multi-fight contract with the UFC. Even with the security of a new deal, the heavyweight stalwart understands that earning a long-overdue title shot is rarely a straightforward equation based strictly on rankings and merit. He acknowledges that securing championship opportunities ultimately rests in the hands of the promotion’s decision-makers, regardless of how the upcoming bouts shake out in the rest of the division, including the high-stakes clash between Pavlovich and Pereira.
“How can I change the opinion of the people who decide?” Volkov reflected. “Of course, I understand what they want and I will try to do, but whatever happens, happens. We’ll see. I’m just trying to do what I should do. I’ll be like, ‘Oh, I should win by knockout; or not, I should be pragmatic. I come, I do my thing, I try to find the punch or takedown or whatever, defend, see what he do and try to be most effective.’ And that’s it.”
For now, Volkov is choosing to focus on the elements of his career that he can directly control: his performance inside the cage, his physical preparation, and his ongoing evolution as a complete martial artist. While he admits a preference for squaring off against opponents higher up the ladder to shorten his path back to the gold, he recognizes the reality of his current standing as one of the most formidable and durable contenders in the division.
“Of course, I would like to fight somebody higher in the ranking to get close to the title, but who can be closer to the title than me, who is No. 2 in ranking?” he added. “It’s just show for show. I’m earning money, I do my job, I’m challenging myself, where I am as a fighter right now, testing my skills. This is nothing more than that.”
