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UFC on FOX: Johnson vs. Reis
Alexander Volkov
Alexander Volkov
27-6 · RUS
VS
Roy Nelson
Roy Nelson
21-13 · USA
April 15, 2017 · Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Heavyweight · 3 rounds
245.0lb
Weigh-in
262.0lb
Alexander Volkov def. Roy Nelson by U-DEC, R3 5:00
Performance
Round by round
SSTDKDCtrl
R1
Volkov29/390/000:23
Nelson9/141/303:12
R2
Volkov45/710/000:00
Nelson11/210/301:07
R3
Volkov48/720/000:00
Nelson12/320/200:13
Total
Volkov122/1820/000:23
Nelson32/671/804:32

Scorecards

Volkov vs Nelson

RdHenry GuearyRob FrancisSal D'AmatoCommunity
R110-910-910-99.7-9.4
R210-910-910-910-9
R310-910-910-99.9-9
Total30-2730-2730-2729.6-27.4

Media (18 cards) · avg 29.727.3 · 18 Volkov · 0 Nelson

Official cards + public consensus via MMA Decisions. Per round: Volkov-Nelson.

Pre-fight

The model's read going in

The walk-forward model's call at the time of the bout — persisted out-of-sample, with no hindsight about the result.

Prediction
VolkovWin probabilityNelson
95.4%4.6%
KO / TKO
64%
Submission
11%
Decision
25%
Expected fight time: 10.3 min
What drives the pick

Each bar is a feature's push on the model from the center axis. Red pushes toward Volkov, blue toward Nelson. Tap a bar for why.

Predicted outcomes
Volkov95%
Wins by
Model
Equity
Mkt
KO / TKO61%64%
Submission10%11%
Decision24%25%
Predicted output
Sig. strikes83 (48108)act 122
Takedowns0.3 (0.01.3)act 0
Nelson5%
Wins by
Model
Equity
Mkt
KO / TKO3%72%
Submission1%13%
Decision1%15%
Predicted output
Sig. strikes28 (1537)act 32
Takedowns0.2 (0.00.7)act 1
Combined totals~112 sig strikes~0.4 takedownsmkt —
How it ends
mkt —
R120%
R217%
R338%
Distance25%
Fighter props
Most sig. strikestie 0.6%
Volkov
88.9%-845
Nelson
+84510.5%
Most takedownstie 65.1%
Volkov
20.9%-149
Nelson
+14914.0%
Significant strikes — over/under
Volkov
Expected: 83.3
83.5
Over 83.5
42.3%
+136
Under 83.5
57.7%
-136
0105209
Nelson
Expected: 28.2
28
Over 28
41.8%
+134
Exactly 28
2.3%
push
Under 28
55.9%
-134
03671
Takedowns — over/under
Volkov
Expected: 0.3
0.5
Over 0.5
23.4%
+327
Under 0.5
76.6%
-327
035
Nelson
Expected: 0.2
0
Over 0
17.0%
Exactly 0
83.0%
push
Under 0
0.0%
035

Odds are model-implied (no real prop market is priced for these). The “most” prices are draw-no-bet — a tie (for takedowns, usually 0–0) is a push, so each side is priced off its chance of winning given a result, while the % shown is the raw chance of landing strictly more. Drag a line in half-point steps: a half line (e.g. 2.5) is a clean over/under, while a whole number adds a third outcome — landing exactly on it, a push — so over, exact and under sum to 100%. On a whole number the over/under odds are draw-no-bet (priced off the decisive mass, since the push refunds), so the two sides stay mirror images rather than implying an arbitrage.

Expected fight time 10.3 min. Predicted-output ranges are percentiles of the model’s simulated fights: sig strikes the middle 50% (25th–75th); takedowns the wider 10th–90th, since they’re 0 in most fights so a narrow band would collapse to 0. Win-by-method = win probability × that fighter’s own method split: the model forecasts how the fight ends, and that forecast is divided between the corners by each fighter’s finishing record — UFC wins in full, earlier-career wins at half weight, as of fight night — reconciled so the fighters’ totals still equal their win probabilities and the methods still total the fight-level forecast above. “Equity” is each of those over that fighter’s win % — how they win given that they win — so a column adds to 100%, and it differs by corner. A fighter with no classifiable wins at any level leans on the fight-level split. “How it ends” is the model’s round-of-finish split. “Mkt” is the de-vigged market prop (consensus across books), shown for context, not as a betting signal; rounds & totals slots fill as that data lands. Percentages are apportioned by largest remainder, so each set adds to its total exactly and an individual figure can sit a point off its own rounding.

Model vs market
Final
ModelMarketGapLine
To win
Volkov95.4%58.8%+36.6-155
Nelson4.6%41.2%−36.6+135

Market % is the de-vigged (no-vig) consensus across the books that price both fighters; the line is the average across books with the min–max range in parentheses. Gap is the model minus the market in points (+ = the model rates that outcome above the market). Thin or one-sided markets are flagged or left blank rather than shown as a fabricated %. Shown for context, not as a bet — the closing line is the sharpest public price and the model trails it on average. For 5-round bouts the model splits its round-3+ finish mass into rounds 3–5 by the historical within-bucket rate, so the over-3.5 / 4.5 lines carry a model estimate.

Trait web
67.6Striking47.5
Volkov +20.1
52.0Grappling39.7
Volkov +12.3
Str/minStr accStr defAbsorbedTD/15TD accTD defSubs
Hover a point to see the values
VolkovNelson
Tale of the tape
Ratings (Elo)
1576
Pound-for-pound
1535
1576
Divisional
1534
1501
Striking offense
1512
1530
Striking defense
1499
1497
Grappling offense
1475
1500
Grappling defense
1536
Physical
28 yrs
Age
40 yrs
6'7"
Height
6'0"
80"
Reach
73"
Orthodox
Stance
Orthodox
Striking (UFC career)
3.00
Strikes landed / min
2.17
54%
Strike accuracy
37%
2.87
Strikes absorbed / min
4.60
54%
Strike defense
47%
Grappling (UFC career)
1.00
Takedowns / 15 min
1.20
50%
Takedown accuracy
33%
88%
Takedown defense
65%
0.0
Sub attempts / 15 min
0.1
Form & résumé
100%
UFC win rate
50%
+1
Win/loss streak
+1
100%
Last-5 win rate
40%
0%
Finish rate
89%
Recent opp. quality
147
Days since last fight
203
Recent form (last 5 UFC)
Alexander Volkov
  • WTimothy JohnsonS-DEC R3
    Close +1305mo before
Roy Nelson
  • WAntonio SilvaKO/TKO R2
    Close -4207mo before
  • LDerrick LewisS-DEC R3
    Close -1309mo before
  • WJared RosholtU-DEC R3
    Close -1151y 2mo before
  • LJosh BarnettU-DEC R5
    Close +2851y 7mo before
  • LAlistair OvereemU-DEC R3
    Close +1502y 1mo before
Volkov — win / loss by method
Record: 27-6-0

Bar length is fight count (largest bar = full width); shading splits finishes by round and decisions by unanimous vs split — tap a bar for the round-by-round count.

KO/TKO
18 wins, 1 loss
W
67% of wins
L
17% of losses
Submission
3 wins, 2 losses
W
11% of wins
L
33% of losses
Decision
6 wins, 3 losses
W
22% of wins
L
50% of losses
UFC
1win0loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
0 (0%)KO/TKO() 0
0 (0%)Submission() 0
1 (100%)Decision() 0
Non-UFC
26win6loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
18 (69%)KO/TKO(17%) 1
3 (12%)Submission(33%) 2
5 (19%)Decision(50%) 3
Nelson — win / loss by method
Record: 21-13-0

Bar length is fight count (largest bar = full width); shading splits finishes by round and decisions by unanimous vs split — tap a bar for the round-by-round count.

KO/TKO
15 wins, 2 losses
W
71% of wins
L
15% of losses
Submission
4 wins, 0 losses
W
19% of wins
L
0% of losses
Decision
2 wins, 11 losses
W
10% of wins
L
85% of losses
UFC
9win9loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
8 (89%)KO/TKO(11%) 1
0 (0%)Submission(0%) 0
1 (11%)Decision(89%) 8
Non-UFC
12win4loss0draw0NC
WinsLosses
7 (58%)KO/TKO(25%) 1
4 (33%)Submission(0%) 0
1 (8%)Decision(75%) 3

Profiles

Experience
Volkov
Nelson
1
UFC fights
18
15.0 min · 15.0 avg
Octagon time
187.6 min · 10.4 avg
17y 3m
Career length
22y 3m
UFC schedule strength

Opponents' records on fight night — toggle their full cross-promotional record vs UFC bouts only.

Volkov
Nelson
10W–2L · 83.3%
Overall
313W–87L · 78.3%
10W–2L · 83.3%
Wins
158W–42L · 79.0%
0W–0L
Losses
155W–45L · 77.5%
Non-UFC schedule strength
Volkov
Nelson
284W–89L · 76.1%
Overall
158W–71L · 69.0%
226W–68L · 76.9%
Wins
90W–53L · 62.9%
58W–21L · 73.4%
Losses
68W–18L · 79.1%
Distance striking
Volkov
Nelson
5.51
Landed / min
2.68
45.6%
Accuracy
31.8%
75.5%
Defense
52.8%
0.00
Knockdowns / 15 min
0.72
37.5%
Time at distance
57.6%
Grappling & control
Volkov
Nelson
1.00
Takedowns / 15 min
1.20
50.0%
Takedown accuracy
32.6%
87.5%
Takedown defense
64.5%
0.00
Sub attempts / 15 min
0.08
45.3%
Control share
60.1%
Strike target map
Volkov
  • Head78%(35)div 67%
  • Body20%(9)div 19%
  • Legs2%(1)div 15%
Nelson
  • Head79%(323)div 67%
  • Body11%(44)div 19%
  • Legs10%(40)div 15%

Where each fighter lands significant strikes (career). “div” = the weight-class average.

Alexander Volkov
CloseSSTDKDCtrl

Per-fight: SS & TD shown landed/attempted; Close = consensus closing line.

Roy Nelson
CloseSSTDKDCtrl

Per-fight: SS & TD shown landed/attempted; Close = consensus closing line.