Tai Tuivasa claims Alexander Volkov’s chin “is not as strong as it needs to be” ahead of UFC 293

Tai Tuivasa doesn’t think Alexander Volkov’s chin will be able to take his punches at UFC 293.

Tuivasa and Volkov are set to throw down in the co-headliner of Saturday’s UFC 293 event in Sydney, Australia. It’s a hometown fight for Tuivasa and he’s looking for redemption as he’s on a two-fight losing streak and will be making the walk to the Octagon for the first time in 2023.

Heading into the fight, although Tai Tuivasa is the betting underdog against Alexander Volkov, the Aussie has full confidence that he won’t just win but will KO the Russian and do a shoey on top of the cage.

“He’s very tall, he’s very strong but his chin is not as strong as it needs to be against me. He better get me before I get him. I see myself winning UFC 293 Bam Bam style. A nice big knockout and a shoey on top of the cage for Sydney and for Australia,” Tuivasa said on UFC 293 promo video.

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If Tuivasa does beat Volkov at UFC 293, many expect it to be by knockout as that is usually how he wins. Out of his 14 wins, 13 have come by knockout, with the lone other coming by decision. Volkov, however, is tough to finish as he has only been knocked out two times in his career and the last time he was knocked out was in 2018 by Derrick Lewis.

Tai Tuivasa (14-5) is coming off back-to-back losses and is coming off a 54-second KO loss to Sergei Pavlovich back in December. Prior to that, he suffered a third-round KO loss to Ciryl Gane. The loss to Gane in the main event of UFC Paris snapped Tuivasa’s five-fight win streak. On the win streak, Tuivasa had notable wins over Derrick Lewis, Augusto Sakai, and Greg Hardy among others.