LAS VEGAS – According to the oddsmakers, Curtis Blaydes is a heavy favorite over Alexander Volkov, but the Russian heavyweight believes they got it wrong.

“I used to fight with guys who want to wrestle me all my career,” Volkov told MMA Junkie. “All people try to take me down to do something on the ground. I’m really used to it, and of course I know how to work with it. I always work on my wrestling.”

Volkov (31-7 MMA, 5-1 UFC) and Blaydes (13-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) meet in the headlining bout of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 11, which airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+ from the UFC Apex.

With 20 career knockouts to his credit, it’s easy to point out Volkov’s striking abilities. But he points to longtime wrestling coach Kenny Johnson as his secret weapon in the grappling department. Johnson believes they’ve laid a groundwork over the past eight years that is paying dividends.

“It’s not so much focusing, ‘OK, I’m fighting a wrestler. We’ve got to focus on wrestling,’” Johnson explained. “He comes from Russia. He has a lot of very good, very big wrestling partners. Throughout his career, everybody has wanted to put him down because he’s such a good striker, so we’ve been focused on technical pieces, but always keeping his skills in striking sharp, his jiu-jitsu and his wrestling.”

Volkov actually thought he might be matched up with Francis Ngannou for a bit, and so he spent some time in Thailand getting ready for a striking specialist. When the opponent changed, so did Volkov’s approach, and he says even the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic couldn’t disrupt his preparation.

“We came back from Thailand and signed a contract with Curtis Blaydes and changed our camp to more grappling and wrestling,” Volkov said. “With the pandemic, I wasn’t able to do as much work in the gym with wrestling partners, so I did a lot of work on my own with my own physical form. After that, I concentrated on technical stuff, like wrestling.

“I was training a lot. I trained all this time. I’ve stayed focused and ready for any fights. I’ve been staying in good shape this whole time, and I’m feeling great.”

At its most basic level, the fight is a tale of striker vs. grappler, but at the sport’s highest level, everyone has well rounded skills. Volkov knows he can’t rely on such a simple assessment of Blaydes and is therefore ready for all possibilities.

“Fights can go any way, so it can go five rounds,” Volkov said. “I’ll be ready for it, for sure. I’m in really good shape right now. It could be a short fight, because I’m also ready to knock him out in the first two rounds. Either way, I’m ready for the fight, and I can fight any type of fight he wants.

“It doesn’t matter how it goes because I’m ready for anything. I’m ready for five rounds.”

And victory could prove very rewarding for Volkov, especially if it’s done in impressive fashion. Volkov’s lone career loss in the UFC to date came in a stunning, last-second finish of a fight he was clearly dominating against Derek Lewis. “Drago” doesn’t let himself worry too much about the future, but he knows the stakes are high.

“I don’t think about it because it doesn’t matter for me,” Volkov said. “It’s better for me how I’m feeling about myself and my skills and what I can do. For me, it’s about fighting the best fighters, the best guys in the division, and trying to beat them. I’m sure if I win this fight, I will be close to the title shot.”

To hear more from Volkov, check out the video above.