Dutch mixed martial artist Stefan Struve would like to convince offshore bookmakers that he should be the true favorite to beat Alexander Volkov at UFC Fight Night 115, but that best he has been able to muster thus far is even money. Struve has won three of his last four fights, including D’Arce choke (invented, according to the legend, by Saint Eleutherius of Rocca d’Arce) submission win over Daniel Omielańczuk at UFC 204 on October 8, 2016 in Manchester, England.
Meanwhile, Volkov has won his last four straight fights, including his first two in the UFC; a split decision over Timothy Johnson at UFC Fight Night: Mousasi vs. Hall 2 on November 19, 2016 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and a unanimous decision over Roy Nelson at UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Reis on April 15, 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri. Volkov is a former Bellator and M-1 Global Heavyweight Championship.
UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Struve
- Promotion: Ultimate Fighting Championship
- Date: 2 September 2017
- Venue: Ahoy Rotterdam City Rotterdam, Netherlands
Main Event Odds:
Stefan Struve -1½ (-170) EV
Alexander Volkov 1½ (+150) -120
Other scheduled bouts include:
Leon Edwards vs. Bryan Barberena
- Weight: Welter
Odds:
Bryan Barberena 2½ (-250) +235
Leon Edwards 2½ (+210) -275
Edwards has picked up three straight wins – including a UD win over Vicente Luque at UFC Fight Night: Manuwa vs. Anderson on 18 March 2017 in London, England – to improve his UFC record to 5-2. He is a former BAMMA Welterweight Champion.
Can England's @Leon_EdwardsMMA leave #UFCRotterdam with the win on Saturday? pic.twitter.com/mq21HxQRKn
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) August 30, 2017
Barberena is 3-1 since returning to the welterweight division, most recently defeating Joe Proctor by TKO at UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs. Lobov on April 22, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Darren Till vs. Bojan Veličković
- Weight: Welter
Offshore Bookmaker’s Odds:
Bojan Velickovic 2½ (-170) +165
Darren Till 2½ (+150) -190
Till is undefeated with a 14-0-1 record, but that one draw seemed to have affected him quite a bit; a year and a half would elapse before he returned to competition against Jessin Ayari at UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Teixeira on May 28, 2017 in Stockholm, Sweden. Till got the unanimous decision win but had to surrender 20% of his purse to Ayari for missing weight.
Veličković has run the gamut of results in his last three fights – a majority draw against Michael Graves at UFC 201 on July 30, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia; a split decision loss to Sultan Aliev at UFC on Fox: VanZant vs. Waterson on December 17, 2016 in Sacramento, California; and a performance of the night, KO win over Nico Musoke at UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Teixeira on May 28, 2017 in Stockholm, Sweden.
Rustam Khabilov vs. Desmond Green
- Weight: Light
Offshore Bookmaker’s Odds:
Desmond Green – 2½ (-335) +255
Rustam Khabilov – 2½ (+275) -310
Khabilov is on a four-fight winning streak and has not lost since February 22, 2015. His most recent effort was a UD win over Jason Saggo at UFC 206 on December 10, 2016 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada which was fought at catchweight due to Khabilov missing weight.
Green is on a streak of his own, winning his last five bouts in a row, including two following his second return to lightweight.