Alexander Volkov explains mid-fight hair styling, post-fight beef with Sergei Pavlovich

06/24/2024 12:00 PM

Alexander Volkov had a lot to talk about after UFC Saudi Arabia, and it wasn't all about his winning streak.

During his co-main event bout against Sergei Pavlovich in Riyadh on Saturday, Volkov was caught on camera receiving some hair treatment between rounds. Volkov looked like the better fighter for the majority of the contest even without the comb assistance, and eventually went on to capture a convincing unanimous decision win.

There was also some post-fight drama with Pavlovich angrily refusing to shake Volkov's hand afterwards, and Pavlovich addressed all of the aspects of his eventful evening when speaking to the media.

"I grew my hair out a little longer than I usually go into the fight, usually it's much shorter," Volkov said via a Russian translator at the evening's post-fight press conference. "So because of this long hair I was forced to bring with me on the team a special stylist, let's say a styling coach. He made sure to work hard for his money and I think he really did a great job because nothing was covering my eyes and I was able to work without any trouble."

Onto more serious matters, Volkov was initially reluctant to talk about the supposed beef with Pavlovich, but suggested that if there's any misunderstanding between the two of them, it's primarily on Pavlovich's side.

"I didn't think it was a nice thing to do from him," Volkov said. "I guess he's mad at me, I'm not really sure why. I would love to figure out why he's mad at me, but I'm thinking maybe he just misunderstood something and if he didn't, then I would love to get to the bottom of it. It's his fault, not mine, I guess."

"To be honest, this is the first time really that I've ever heard Sergei curse because he kind of told me to—well, I'm not going to repeat what he said, but basically, I once in a while allow myself to curse, but this is the first time I actually heard him maliciously use curse words in my direction," Volkov added. "So if he's got a problem, then I think it's probably on his side because I let the situation go and if he's got a problem, then he should be the one initiating the solution."

Volkov's Saudi Arabia win now puts him on a four-fight win streak, the first time he's won that many consecutive UFC fights since he started with the promotion in 2016. During that time, he has trained with Pavlovich on several occasions, so it was somewhat surprising that the Russian fighters were matched up against each other.

Now that there seems to be bad blood, is Volkov worried about further acts of aggression from Pavlovich?

"If he tries to attack me, I'll call the cops," Volkov said when asked how he'll react if he runs into Pavlovich at the fighter hotel elevator.

Volkov eventually did his best to clear up the situation, explaining that as far as he knows, there was confusion about how the matchup was arranged. He recalled seeing the UFC announce the fight before contracts were officially signed, and claims that it was Pavlovich who knew about the fight first and that Volkov's side later agreed to it. He speculated that Pavlovich may have been under the assumption that it was Volkov who suggested the matchup, which could be perceived as a slight.

Though Volkov didn't want to stir up anymore drama, he does think Pavlovich could stand to be more grateful for the work they did together. Prior to his past two losses, Pavlovich went on a hellacious run through the heavyweight division, winning six straight fights in the first round and knocking out the likes of Curtis Blaydes, Tai Tuivasa, and Derrick Lewis to earn an interim title shot at UFC 295 that he subsequently lost to Tom Aspinall.

It's the Lewis fight that sticks out the most to Volkov as he claims that his team provided invaluable information to Pavlovich ahead of that matchup.

"It was him that was to come to our team and we were the ones that were coaching him, we were the ones that were helping him out, we're the ones sharing all the skills with him, and up until the Lewis fight, we were still training with him and helping him out," Volkov said. "I flew there after my Lewis fight and was copying Lewis as much as I could, imitating him, for Sergei to be better, to get all the skills, give him all the secret weapons.

"So I think he, technically, should be a little more respectful and a little more thankful to our team for all the help that we provided."