Alexander Volkov disclosed the details of the negotiations for his next fight and explained how Fabricio Werdum "cut" him.
- The standard question in this situation: did you wake up today as a star?
- To be honest, I have not had time to sleep.
- Still? How so?
- The tournament ended very late. I returned to the room at the dead of night, and at 6 am I already left with my team to the airport. There was no time to sleep: while they had supper, while they were gathered, it was time to leave the hotel. Now I'm going home from the airport. So I do not feel anything.
- It seems that with Verdum you communicated quite respectfully the whole way. Did you talk after the fight?
- No. Last time we met in the octagon. As far as I know, Werdum immediately went to the hospital right after the fight. At least at the press conference he was not present.
- What was it like to spend finishing off a man whom you respect?
- It's always unpleasant, but if I did not finish him, he would come to his senses and began to hug. I had to choose between winning and continuing the fight. I chose the first. Well, the referee stopped the fight in time, I did not have time to deal too much blows on Werdum. Judging by the fact that there is no bad news, everything is fine with him. Just bruises.
- Let's talk about the fight from the very beginning. Did you have a feeling that you were fighting at a Russian tournament, when the hymn of the club "Ahmat" played on O2 arena in London during Werdum's walk out?
- Well, no. I was completely in my thoughts and did not even pay attention.
- The fight started bad for you: Werdum from the first attempt has transferred you to the floor. What did you feel at that moment?
- You know, during a fight you do not have time to really feel something, emotions go away. You just work on the situation. I was ready to fight Werdum. I understood that in the battle with him this can not be avoided. And when there was a takedown - at the beginning of the battle or at the end - it's not so important. Well, yes, he transformed me in the first episode, well done - well reacted. But later his confidence only went away.
- Why?
- Because everything, on what he counted, did not allow him to dominate and in any way did not approach him to a victory. Werdum was only tired, and I gained strength and waited for my moment.
- At the beginning of the first round, your opponent controlled you on the ground for more than two minutes. Were you not tired?
- No. I was not wasted in these episodes at all. He deliberately tried not to expend his strength in the struggle, he simply pressed me and did not let me to work. There was an opportunity to get up in earlier than it turned out, but I decided not to rush.
- So that was the part of the plan?
- Of course. If I tried to get up as quickly as possible, a fresh Werdum could take advantage of this and catch me on suffocating or submission. Therefore, I just defended myself in a secure situation and waited for the opponent to lose his confidence.
- Do you think it was possible to break him psychologically at that moment?
- When your main trump does not work, it always breaks and makes you reconsider the plan for the fight.
- And yet you turned the course of the duel in the third round only.
- Over the years of fighting, I just realized one thing: it does not matter what kind of round it is, the main thing is not to rush, not to hurry events up. I did not have any shaking because of how the first two rounds were spent. I did not want to be rehabilitated as soon as possible for missing passes. I continued to wait for my moment.
- What was the signal for the attack?
- When Werdum realized that he is no longer owns the advantage in the stance and he began to receive my blows on the ground, he decided to try working in the stance. I waited for him to believe in himself and go with my hack. And in the first situation, I cut it.
- Your plan was to defeat Werdum, and then fight for UFC belt in Russia. The first part is completed. How are you doing with the second one?
- I feel that soon I will fight for the belt. True, I'm not yet sure that in Russia - champion battles are arranged in tournaments, which are shown on the system of paid broadcasts. It is difficult to organize such an event. Maybe they will make a tournament, which will be shown on FOX channel. Then there is a chance that the fight will take place in Russia.
