Alexander Volkov
"Drago"
39-11-0
VS
2026-10-24
UFC 333: Volkanovski vs. Evloev
Heavyweight
Rizvan Kuniev
12-3-1
MARKET MARGIN · XGBOOST PREDICTION
Alexander Volkov 'Drago'
63.5% CONFIDENCE
Market vs Model VALUE
Alexander Volkov
Rizvan Kuniev
Opening line
-270
+222
Market says
70%
30%
XGBoost says
64%
36%
Gap vs market
-7
+7
Market Margin says
64%
36%
Edge at that price
-9
+5
Rizvan Kuniev at +222: Market Margin gives 36% vs 31% needed to break even — a 5-point edge on the underdog.
The gap uses whichever model you've selected. Value always comes from Market Margin, the one model whose disagreements with the betting line were backtested (flagged sides returned about +8% for favorites and +18% for underdogs on flat bets at the opening price across ~2,800 past fights). Other models' disagreements with the market haven't held up, so they don't get a value flag. It's measured against the opening line — if the price has moved, the edge will be different.
Fight Insights
40%
Alexander Volkov
Fighters who are 35 or older have won 40% of their UFC fights (961-1432)
Alexander Volkov: age 38
58%
Rizvan Kuniev
Fighters who are coming off a win facing an opponent who has 15+ UFC fights have won 58% of their UFC fights (554-398)
Alexander Volkov: 19 UFC fights
23%
Market check · Rizvan Kuniev
Big underdogs (opening line under 33%) have won 23% of their fights — 4 points below the 27% the opening lines implied (n=2630)
Rizvan Kuniev: opening line implies a 30% chance to win
57%
Market check · Alexander Volkov
Favorites who are 35 or older have won 57% of their fights — 4 points below the 61% the opening lines implied (n=905)
Alexander Volkov: opening line implies a 70% chance to win
52%
Division & format
Heavyweight fights end in a KO/TKO 52% of the time (vs 33% of all UFC fights, n=667)
34%
Division & format
Heavyweight fights go the distance 34% of the time (vs 48% of all UFC fights, n=667)
Real UFC history since 2006, using each fighter's record, form and stats as they stood before every past fight. Only patterns that hold up statistically (corrected for testing many ideas at once) and point the same way in both halves of history are shown — these describe the past, they are not predictions.
How It Ends
51%
Decision
40%
KO / TKO
9%
Submission
Decision50.9%
KO / TKO40.2%
Submission8.9%
How long it lasts 3-round fight
57%
Goes the distance
fair -131
43%
Ends in a finish
fair +131
Rounds lineOverUnder
0.5 91% -964 9% +964
1.5 71% -241 29% +241
2.5 60% -150 40% +150
When it ends
Round 120%
Round 216%
Round 38%
Goes the distance57%
"Over 1.5" means the fight lasts past the middle of round 2, the way sportsbooks settle it. Fair odds are the break-even price with no vig, so compare them with a book's line. On unseen fights this model beat the plain base rate by about 4% (log loss; 51% of 3-round fights go the distance), so treat it as a tilt away from the base rate, not a certainty.
Why XGBoost leans this way
Alexander Volkov
Rizvan Kuniev
Experience edge (total fights)
Matchup +34
14%
Avg takedowns attempted
Rizvan Kuniev 1.18
5%
Avg takedowns attempted
Alexander Volkov 1.34
4%
Reach
Alexander Volkov 203 cm
4%
Years past divisional prime
Alexander Volkov 6.00
4%
Age
Alexander Volkov 38.0 yrs
4%
Striking accuracy
Alexander Volkov 55%
4%
Elo rating edge
Matchup 96
4%
Elo momentum edge
Matchup -25
3%
Ground strike defense
Rizvan Kuniev 31%
3%
Age
Rizvan Kuniev 34.6 yrs
3%
Strike rate delta r1 to r3
Alexander Volkov +0.44
3%
Defensive skill edge
Matchup -0.09
3%
Body-strike accuracy
Alexander Volkov 79%
3%
← pushes toward Alexander Volkov pushes toward Rizvan Kuniev →
Bars show each factor's SHAP contribution to this specific prediction — how much it pushed the win probability toward one fighter, given everything else the model knows. Percentages are each factor's share of the total push across the top 30 factors.

Alexander Volkov

Win Streak
2
Finish Rate
20%
Avg Duration
13.9m
Last 5 fights (most recent first)
W DEC
W DEC
L DEC
W DEC
W SUB
Height: 201 cm
Weight: 261 lbs
Reach: 203 cm
Stance: Orthodox

Rizvan Kuniev

Win Streak
2
Finish Rate
33%
Avg Duration
13.7m
Last 5 fights (most recent first)
W KO
W DEC
L DEC
Height: 193 cm
Weight: 240 lbs
Reach: 193 cm
Stance: Orthodox
Head-to-Head Stats
Alexander Volkov
ADVANTAGE
Rizvan Kuniev
Striking Accuracy
55.5%
+8.1%
47.3%
Strikes Landed/Min
4.06
+0.74
3.32
Strikes Absorbed/Min
2.75
+0.32
2.43
Striking Defense
54.3%
+2.4%
51.9%
Takedown Accuracy
40.7%
+3.2%
37.5%
Takedown Defense
59.6%
+20.9%
80.5%
Knockdowns/Fight
0.17
+0.14
0.30
Avg Control Time (sec)
71.99
+3.99
75.98
Strikes Per Round
18.89
+2.98
15.91
Head Strike %
54.2%
+13.7%
67.8%
Body Strike %
22.7%
+0.5%
22.2%
Leg Strike %
23.1%
+13.1%
10.0%
Last 5 Win Rate
80.0%
+13.3%
66.7%
Last 5 Finish Rate
20.0%
+13.3%
33.3%