🔹 UFC: Battle Of The Giants!

didanny (41)in #ufc • 7 years ago (edited)

Alexander Volkov vs Stefan Struve

The two tallest UFC fighters will face off this Saturday in the Octagon. Struve, the tallest UFC fighter, stands at 7 feet tall (2.13 m) while Volkov stands at 6 foot 7 inches (2.04 m). As you can see the height disparity is still actually pretty significant. It's greater than the height disparity between Conor Mcgregor and Nate Diaz.

Fight Predictions

We have two very lanky guys here, but reach isn't as important as knowing how to use it. While Struve has the reach advantage in all his fights, he doesn't stay on the outside. Struve likes to close the distance and smother his opponents, maybe get a takedown if he can. Volkov is different in that he uses his reach to pick apart his opponents from the outside. We see him walking backwards often, resetting the distance after an exchange.

That's not to say Volkov doesn't push forward. In the Roy Nelson fight we see him walk forward and pressure with a flurry of punches after landing something significant. This is where Struve is going to have to be careful, he's not good while walking backwards and that's often how he's defeated, with a lot of forward pressure. Then again Volkov isn't accustomed to fighting someone as tall and Struve, so maybe he won't be able to apply his forward pressure.

On the ground I think the clear advantage goes to Struve. He's got plenty of submissions to his name, his long limbs make it easy to wrap around his opponent and lock in a hold or a choke. Few people have defeated Struve on the ground, and it was with a lot of strength. This takes us back to the Overeem fight where Struve wasn't able to get a hold of Overeem on the ground and that was because of Overeem's strength (thanks to that horse meat he was eating at the time). I don't think Volkov has that kind of strength.

It's a tough fight to call, but I think Struve will win. He's got more experience, and he's got the reach advantage. Despite his rocky road in the UFC, I believe he is a good fighter. I wouldn't be too surprised if Volkov won though, he has looked impressive in his UFC fights.