The UFC is back in Las Vegas for Saturday’s UFC Vegas 18 fight card. A heavyweight matchup between two top-10 ranked competitors — Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov — headlines the event.
Overeem hasn’t put together a three-fight winning streak since Stipe Miocic knocked him out in a title fight in 2016. The 40-year-old has three runs of two straight wins since that loss. Overeem enters Saturday’s bout with TKO wins in his past two outings. In May he stopped Walt Harris and then in September he halted Augusto Saki.
Overeem, who has captured various titles throughout his long MMA career, hopes he can add the UFC title to his resume before he retires. He’s looking to take one step closer to that goal against Volkov.
Volkov, who is a former M-1 Global Heavyweight champion, has struggled over his past four fights. After opening his UFC career on a four-fight winning streak, Volkov is 2-2 in his past four bouts. The 30-year-old is coming off an October TKO win over Walt Harris. Before that Curtis Blaydes racked up 14 takedowns on his way to a decision win over Volkov.
UFC Vegas 18 takes place at UFC Apex in Las Vegas and streams on ESPN+.
Below, look at how Overeem and Volkov match up in key stats ahead of UFC Vegas 18.
UFC Vegas 18: Overeem vs. Volkov
| Stat | Overeem | Volkov |
|---|---|---|
| Stat | Overeem | Volkov |
| Sig. Strikes Lander Per Min. | 3.71 | 4.76 |
| Striking Accuracy | 64% | 58% |
| Strikes Absorbed Per Minute | 2.33 | 2.53 |
| Striking Defense | 58% | 56% |
| Takedown Avg./15 min | 1.44 | 0.69 |
| Takedown Accuracy | 56% | 70% |
| Takedown Defense | 73% | 65% |
| Submission Average Per 15 min | 0.8 | 0.2 |
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