By The Numbers: Alexander Volkov vs. Alexander Romanov

Alexander Volkov serves as a steadying presence in an otherwise chaotic Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight division.

The former Bellator MMA champion will take on the once-beaten Alexander Romanov in the UFC Fight Night 221 co-headliner on Saturday inside The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas. Volkov has compiled a 9-4 record across his 13 appearances inside the Octagon. The 6-foot-7 Russian last competed at UFC Fight Night 207, where he buried Jairzinho Rozenstruik with punches a little more than two minutes into their June 4 encounter. Romanov, meanwhile, finds himself on the rebound for the first time as a pro. He last fought on Aug. 20, when he fell from the ranks of the undefeated in a majority decision loss to Marcin Tybura at UFC 278.

As Volkov and Romanov move ever closer to their forthcoming battle, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:

34: Years of age for Volkov, who was born in Moscow on Oct. 24, 1988.

23: Volkov wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 66% of his career total (35). His list of victims includes Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum and Stefan Struve. Volkov holds three other wins by submission (8%) and nine more by decision (26%).

337: Days spent by Volkov as Bellator heavyweight champion. He captured the crown with a five-round unanimous decision over Rich Hale at Bellator 84 on Dec. 14, 2012, then surrendered it in a first-round technical knockout loss to Vitaly Minakov at Bellator 108 on Nov. 15, 2013.

65: Rounds completed by Volkov as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on 14 different occasions and carries a 9-5 record in those bouts.

195: Combined victories between the nine men—Rozenstruik, Overeem, Werdum, Struve, Tybura, Walt Harris, Greg Hardy, Roy Nelson and Tim Johnson—Volkov has beaten as a member of the UFC roster. They sport a .672 cumulative winning percentage at 195-95-1.

32: Years of age for Romanov, who was born on Dec. 11, 1990 in Comrat, Moldova.

9: Romanov victories by submission, accounting for 56% of his career total (16). His methods of choice: three forearm chokes, two rear-naked chokes, two neck cranks, one arm-triangle choke and one keylock. Romanov owns six other victories by knockout or technical knockout (38%) and one more by decision (6%).

36: Seconds needed for Romanov to put away Alexander Stolyarov with punches at an Eagles Fighting Championship show on Feb. 10, 2018. More than five years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.

7: Consecutive calendar years in which Romanov has fought at least once. He went 1-0 in 2016, 5-0 in 2017, 4-0 in 2018, 1-0 in 2019, 2-0 in 2020, 2-0 in 2021 and 1-1 in 2022.

.651: Cumulative winning percentage between the five men—Chase Sherman, Jared Vanderaa, Juan Espino, Marcos Rogerio de Lima and Roque Martinez—Romanov has defeated since he linked arms with the UFC. They boast a combined record of 74-39-3.