Volkov: Money battles make our sport even more popular

The top Russian UFC heavyweight Alexander Volkov told about his attitude to the difficult situation in the division. "There was a conversation about the title fight. It was said that the fight with Werdum was planned as an eliminator, but since then there have been many events - apparently, negotiations with Lesnar began, a duel Miocic - Cormier took place, at which I was, by the way, an official substitute in case of withdrawal of one of fighters.

“In general, much has changed and now there are four people in queue, each of whom considers himself a contender for the belt. So you have to go through this selection - fight each other and to catch up, so that the UFC wanted to see someone as a champion.

“I have no reason to be upset. I am now at my place. If I were in the US as popular as Lesnar, I probably would have been at his place now. After all, the UFC, besides the sports component, has an important task to earn money. And if the organization would not earn them, it would simply cease to exist, and no one could fight in it at all. That's why it's just part of our business and there's no point in getting upset. This makes our sport even more popular.

“Look at the situation with Conor. He evoked, and continues to cause a lot of negative things, but at the same time he increased the salary of fighters and the popularity of the organization as a whole by his job. Therefore, now they want to make a big show with the champion in two weight categories Cormier and the supermedic person Lesnar in order to earn on this and raise the popularity of UFC in the world, which will eventually give the chance to potentially earn more to all fighters. It works like this," Volkov said.