Rizvan Kuniev didn’t wait for Saturday to start throwing. At Wednesday’s UFC 333 media day in Abu Dhabi, the heavyweight told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter that he plans to beat Alexander Volkov anywhere the fight goes.
“I can dominate him everywhere,” Kuniev said. “I can dominate him in the grappling, I can dominate him in the standup. There’s really nothing that I cannot do against him.”
Then he went further. In a clip posted by MMA Fighting on X, Kuniev said he saw Volkov trembling in the hotel lobby, and he waved off everything Volkov has said this week as cover.
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“Whatever he’s trying to say to make him feel superior, or say I’m doing something wrong, all of these things are him trying to cover up his fear,” Kuniev said.
That crack about doing something wrong has a target. Volkov told MMA Junkie that Kuniev’s success was built on steroids, claiming the PFL cut him for performance-enhancing drugs. “I’m not sure he can fight with me without it, so I’m not worried,” Volkov said.
The documented part: Kuniev tested positive for drostanolone, metenolone, boldenone and 19-norandrosterone after beating Renan Ferreira in 2023. The Nevada State Athletic Commission turned the win into a no contest, suspended him 12 months and fined him $9,821. MMA Mania reported there have been no publicly reported positive tests for him since.
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Sparring partners, then opponents
These two have shared a room before. Volkov said he was surprised Kuniev accepted the fight after training with him at his gym. Kuniev’s version is that they sparred for two or three months in Las Vegas while he was helping Anakalev finish a camp, and that loyalty never entered into it. “We literally had no idea each other existed until a couple of months ago,” he said. He added that Volkov would have taken the same fight if their positions were flipped.
Volkov (40-11, 14-5 UFC) is 37, stands 6-foot-7 and has won six of his last seven. That includes two straight since the Ciryl Gane loss that MMA Mania still calls a robbery, the most recent a win over Jailton Almeida at UFC 321 in October 2025. MMA Mania lists him at No. 4. Kuniev keeps calling him the No. 2 contender. Either way, Volkov is the one with something to lose.
Kuniev (15-3-1, 2-1 UFC) has shared the cage with big men already, Almeida and Ferreira among them, and says the size gap doesn’t bother him. “I’m not afraid of his size, I’m not afraid of his reach, I’m not afraid of any of those things.” He’s also already shopping for the next one. Per MMA Fighting, he’d pick Alex Pereira over countryman Sergei Pavlovich after Saturday.
Volkov’s scouting report was shorter. He expects Kuniev to test him standing, then go looking for the clinch or a takedown. “He doesn’t have many weapons to surprise me. I have more technical skills.”
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The fight is on the main card Saturday, Oct. 24, at Etihad Arena under the Volkanovski vs. Evloev headliner, with the card streaming on Paramount+ starting at 2 p.m. ET.
My take: Kuniev answers questions straight and I’ll always enjoy a guy who says exactly what he plans to do, but walking down a 6-foot-7 kickboxer through that jab is a lot harder than describing it at a media day. I like Volkov on the feet, keeping it long and making Kuniev pay for every entry. And if Drago wins again, the UFC should stop handing him the next hungry climber and give him the title shot he’s been chasing.
