Volkmann Back to Bread-and-Butter Wrestling for Kelly

Jacob Volkmann’s delayed bout against Brit Paul Kelly has given him extra time to refocus on his strongest form of attack, he recently told the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown” show. Originally scheduled to face off at UFC 116 on July 3 in Las Vegas, the lightweights will now meet at UFC on Versus 2 this Sunday in San Diego, Calif.

The three-time Div. I All-American wrestler for the University of Minnesota made a respectable Octagon debut against rising welterweight Paulo Thiago at UFC 106 last November. And though he lost a unanimous decision, the promotion invited the 29-year-old fighter back as a two-week late replacement to face Martin Kampmann at UFC 108 in January. Volkmann said he erroneously chose to stand with Kampmann, an accomplished Dane striker, which led to his second straight defeat.

Volkmann said he won’t make that mistake again.

“Right now I don’t have that choice. I’m 1-2 in the UFC and I know a loss could get me bumped out, so I gotta focus on the win,” said Volkmann, who’s trained alongside UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy. “I don‘t have the luxury of standing there and trying to improve my standup. I need to get him to the ground and I need to win.”

The bout against Kelly, who’s won four of his six UFC appearances overseas, will be Volkmann’s second one at lightweight. The lifelong wrestler said he had little trouble making weight for his 155-pound debut against Ronys Torres at UFC Fight Night 21 last March. Volkmann won via split decision.

“I told my manager Monte Cox that if they wanted a short-notice fight again to make it 170, but they gave me two months to cut (the weight) slowly,” he said.

Volkmann’s training partners have noted his superior physical strength, though the wrestler said he hasn’t noticed a substantial difference yet over his opponents since making the move down a division.

A licensed chiropractor during the day, Volkmann said he’s curtailed that occupation to part-time duty while he devotes more time in the gym. Volkmann said he tries not to train any more than an hour and a half per session for fear of growing complacent too quickly. His back-to-back losses have also been vital teaching tools.

“It made me think about what I needed to work on, especially with my standup, and that when I get a guy to the ground, I need to take control and hold onto him a little better,” said Volkmann.