"I’m a little upset I couldn’t show it in the fight" - Alexander Volkov jokes about his grappling after UFC 321

Alexander Volkov recently addressed his heavyweight fight against Jailton Almeida at UFC 321 last weekend and joked about his grappling skills. Volkov hilariously claimed that his takedown defense worked better during training and wished he could replicate that in his fights.

After five rounds of action, Volkov got his hand raised against Almeida via split decision. In the aftermath, many slammed the judges' scorecard for seemingly robbing Almeida of a win, given that the Brazilian secured seven takedowns and had over ten minutes of control time over the Russian. However, others celebrated Volkov getting the win while criticizing Almeida for a lack of activity.

In a recent interview, Volkov addressed being taken down numerous times and jokingly said:

"In practice, my takedown defense was much better. I’m a little upset I couldn’t show it in the fight... Every time [Almeida shot for a takedown] I was like, 'F*ck again? Really?' I was so surprised. Maybe in some alternative universe I have good takedown defense, but not in this one."

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Alexander Volkov defends his win over Jailton Almeida at UFC 321

While many believe Jailton Almeida should have gotten the win over Alexander Volkov at UFC 321 last weekend, the Russian doesn't think so and recently explained why his victory was justified.

In a post-fight press conference, Volkov pointed out that Almeida couldn't damage him despite having over ten minutes of control time and said:

"He was tough. His takedowns were pretty good. He was well prepared. I know it was a little bit funny to see how he took me down again and again, but I tried to give him more punch whenever I was on the ground, in the standup. I just felt like I gave him more damage... He kind of tried not to lose the fight or tried not to have damage. You can't go to the octagon with these thoughts."

He continued:

But with me, he was afraid to do anything on top, and that's why I have the ability to punch him, even from the bottom. I expected that he'd try to punch me on top, and I will find small holes to change, to like sweep him how it was in the first round. But after the first round, for sure he didn't want to do this. It is what it is. I'm upset with this fight as well, but I'm still waiting for the UFC to give us Performance of the Night." [H/t: MMA Junkie]