One person who would like a bout against Volkov is Francis Ngannou, but Ngannou claims the former heavyweight champion has been ducking him.
“Just for the record, Volkov turned down the fight against me twice,” Ngannou told MMA Junkie. “One was July 2017 and August 2018. He clearly denied to fight me.”
Ngannou was reportedly offered a last second replacement bout against Volkov at UFC Fight Night Moscow, but Ngannou turned the opportunity down because the fighter felt the goal was a step down for him.
The fighter says that he is the gatekeeper at heavyweight in the UFC’s eyes, so Volkov would need to stop ducking their potential bout in order to get a title shot.
“The UFC have made it clear for everybody that I’m who you have to fight if you want to fight for the title,” Ngannou said. “It seems like I’m just there to be, to go to the gate. That’s how it looks now. If they want to fight for the title, they have to fight me, but how about me fighting for the title? It doesn’t seem to be in the talk, so that’s exactly what the UFC has made me appear, to be the gate holder. And, yeah, I think Volkov is dodging me clearly. That’s not a secret that he’s dodging me.”
Volkov currently sits at #6 in the UFC Heavyweight Division rankings, while Ngannou is four spots ahead of him at #2.
