ALEXANDER VOLKOV is happy to play the panto villain in his London showdown against Brit Tom Aspinall.
The Russian was given the task of testing the Wigan warrior against the elite heavyweight division's fighters tomorrow night before a sold out crowd at The O2 Arena.
Alexander Volkov and Tom Aspinall will be fighting in the main event at UFC London
The 33-year old plans to embrace hostile atmosphere that die-hard Brits will create four years after he was cheered by them at Fabricio Werdum's main event.
During the UFC London media conference, he told SunSport: "There's always face and heel to this business, and right now I'm the heel."
"But it's okay. If the fight has attention, a story and power behind it, then I'm very happy.
"It's always wonderful when the fans are interested in the fight.
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They don't want me to lose, they want him to win. This is always good for business. It's a great thing.
Volkov's participation at UFC London's main bout was in serious doubt when Priti Patel, Home Secretary, announced that Russia would be cracking down on Russian athletes who were competing there following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
The promotion was able to get the UFC's 6'7-inch giant into the UK. He admitted that he worried he wouldn't be able to headline UFCs first European event since the pandemic.
He stated that he was also concerned about the issue.
CHELTENHAM SIGN UP OFFERS AND FREE CHELTENHAM BETS - ALL THE LATEST DEALS RACING THIS WEEK"We were afraid that we wouldn't pass Russian customs or any other customs. Because we are normal people, we don't know what's going on with the customs. Every day brings new laws and other stuff.
"The only thing that made me different right now was that my flight time was almost a day.
"Before it took four hours to travel to London, Although I normally arrive in four hours, the flight took me the same amount of time as I would to go to the U.S.A and back.
Volkov felt the weight of uncertainty as he prepared to make his 2022 debut.
He stated, "The preparation for fighting is always difficult even without all of these.
"I was unable to prepare because I had turned off all my social media networks. I stopped reading news. It was the only way I could prepare.
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"Alternatively, I wouldn’t be able prepare or do any training.
It's not easy, but it is possible to be professional and keep yourself out of all informational fields in order to prepare for the fight.
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