Alexander Volkov (#6) and Tom Aspinall (#11) are two interesting fighters with different fighting approaches. This fight is about Volkov’s octagon awareness and precision vs Aspinall’s speed and explosiveness.
Volkov’s Strengths
- Octagon awareness
- Understanding of distance
- Striking precision
- Good kicks
- Good feints
Aspinall’s Strengths
- Good boxing
- Good head movement
- Speed
- Explosive
- Good grappling
Aspinall’s Weaknesses
- Steps back with chin up
What does Volkov need to do to win?
Volkov is one of the most accurate strikers in the heavyweight division. He does a great job of positioning himself in proper places relative to his opponents and throws precise shots. Furthermore, Volkov does a good job of maintaining distance and using his height and reach to his advantage. To win against Aspinall requires Volkov to maintain distance and play the kicking game as much as possible. Volkov’s primary objective should be to kick Aspinall’s legs and body. Kicks to the legs and body will slow Aspinall down and take away some of Aspinall’s explosiveness and in the process, creates more opportunities for Volkov to implement his (likely) secondary objective; kick and punch Aspinall’s head. In times when Volkov cannot maintain the distance (since Aspinall is so fast), Volkov needs to throw a lot of straight and uppercuts, this is because Aspinall tends to move around with his chin up.
What does Aspinall need to do to win?
While Volkov is more accurate, Aspinall is much faster. Speed is Aspinall’s biggest asset going into this fight and it has to be heavily emphasized (particularly in the striking realm). To win against Volkov requires Aspinall to fight similar to how he fought against Andrei Arlovski; close the distance, throw an overwhelming amount of punches on feet and create takedown threats from time to time. This is because getting in the boxing range will render Volkov’s kicking game significantly less effective and a high volume of fast punches and takedown threats will make it harder for Volkov to process what’s happening during that time (processing is Volkov’s biggest asset). However, when closing the distance it’s important for Aspinall to have his chin tucked in – because sometimes it only takes one shot to change the momentum of a fight and precision is on Volkov’s side.
Prediction
Although stylistically different, this is a very even match, both fighters possess attributes that cancel each other out. Whenever athletes of equal caliber go against each other, often the experience becomes the deciding factor, therefore, I think Volkov will get the W on this one.
Date: Saturday, March 19 // Main Card Start Time: 4 PM EDT // Watch It On: ESPN+
