Kuniev targets Pereira after Volkov at UFC 333, blasts rankings as 'very strange'

UFC heavyweight Rizvan Kuniev arrived at UFC 333 media day in Abu Dhabi with a two-fight plan: beat Alexander Volkov this Saturday, then call out Alex Pereira. Kuniev enters the bout on a two-fight winning streak, having defeated Tyrell Fortune and Jailton Almeida in his most recent outings.

Kuniev was blunt about his relationship with Volkov, a fellow Russian fighter he has trained alongside in the past. He took particular exception to Volkov raising his 2023 doping suspension from his PFL days, framing it as a sign of weakness rather than a legitimate grievance.

“Whatever he’s trying to say that makes him feel superior,” Kuniev said at Wednesday’s media day. “Or maybe he’s trying to say that I’m doing something wrong so he’s mad at me for something — all of these things are him trying to cover up the amount of fear that he has, and his whole team has every time that they see me.”

Both fighters share a notable parallel on their UFC résumés: each beat Almeida but lost a decision to Curtis Blaydes. Kuniev, however, insists the comparison ends there. He argued that Blaydes dominated Volkov across five rounds, while his own performance against the same opponent told a different story.

“If we look back at my fight against Curtis Blaydes and what I did with Curtis Blaydes, and then we look back at their fight — for five rounds Curtis Blaydes was outstriking him and taking him down at will and basically mowing him down,” Kuniev said. “We’re talking about two different styles of fighters.”

A victory over the top-ranked Volkov would push Kuniev firmly into title contention. Undisputed heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane is scheduled to make his first title defence on November 14 at UFC 334 against Josh Hokit at Madison Square Garden, while Sergei Pavlovich faces light heavyweight star Pereira at UFC 335 on December 12 in Las Vegas.

Should a title shot not materialise immediately, Kuniev made clear who he wants. He said he would prefer to avoid Pavlovich out of respect for a shared background, pointing instead to Pereira as the more compelling and commercially significant matchup.

“I think Pereira-Pavlovich winner, but honestly Pereira first because I wouldn’t want to fight somebody who is a countryman,” Kuniev said. “Pereira is somebody that would be a really good fight for me because he’s a very big media name.” Kuniev also questioned Pereira’s placement in the heavyweight rankings, describing it as “very strange” given that the Brazilian has yet to compete in the division.