A heavyweight fight between Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov is set to headline UFC Fight Night on Feb. 6, UFC president Dana White told ESPN on Thursday.
Overeem and Volkov are the Nos. 5 and 6-ranked heavyweights, respectively, according to the UFC’s official rankings. The UFC has not yet announced a location for the event.
Overeem (47-18) has acknowledged he is in the final run of his storied MMA career, but wishes to accomplish the one thing that’s eluded him: winning a UFC championship. A professional MMA fighter since 1999, Overeem has held titles in Strikeforce, Dream and K-1, but never the UFC.
The 40-year-old legend came close in 2016, when he challenged Stipe Miocic for UFC gold in the champion’s backyard of Cleveland. Overeem hurt Miocic early in the fight, but ultimately suffered a knockout loss in the final seconds of the opening round. He is 4-1 in his last five contests. His only loss came in the closing seconds of a five-round fight against Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
Volkov (32-8) is seeking his first UFC title shot. He came close to securing one in 2018, but suffered an ill-timed loss to Derrick Lewis at UFC 229. Lewis went on to fight for the belt later that year.
Fighting out of Russia, Volkov is coming off a second-round finish of Walt Harris on Oct. 24 in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.