BUZZ UFC 333: Volkov outpoints Kuniev, says he's done chasing heavyweight belt

Volkov asked for a title shot twice in one week and still has no answer, so he has stopped waiting on one. A week after the UFC 333 press conference, he told The Ariel Helwani Show he is not hunting the belt and that the fighter who holds it defines what it means. If a shot comes, he says he will take it.

The fight itself went the way the size gap suggested. Volkov, 6'7" with an 80-inch reach, worked from distance and attacked Kuniev's legs for three rounds, which kept the Dagestan-born heavyweight from building offense. ESPN stats, as cited by Essentially Sports, credited him with 14 leg kicks. It was his third straight win and his seventh in his last eight, and it came on his 38th birthday.

The cost showed afterward. Kuniev, 34, was the only fighter on a card with six knockouts sent to hospital, and he dropped to 2-2 in the UFC. His corner has said nothing about the extent of any damage.

Volkov's argument is simple. His only loss in that stretch was the disputed decision to Ciryl Gane in December 2024, and many fans and media felt the judges got it wrong. Gane is now the undisputed champion and defends against Josh Hokit at UFC 334, a booking Volkov has criticized. Days before his own fight he walked into the press conference as a fan to ask White what he should do. White seemed not to know him until Alexander Volkanovski explained, and later said he was playing along. Volkov doesn't buy that, and joked that White may think of Volkanovski whenever he hears his name.

Outside voices are on his side. Daniel Cormier called him the No. 1 contender unless Tom Aspinall returns soon after the November title fight or Alex Pereira scores a spectacular knockout of Sergei Pavlovich. Heavy on UFC says a Pereira win could put him ahead of Volkov for the next shot.

Watch Nov. 14 first, then UFC 335 on Dec. 12. Those results will show whether Volkov gets the shot he has stopped chasing or is passed again.