Honesty is a rarity in aging fighters. Far too often, the glory days are over and it's obvious to the fans, the coaches, the judges - everybody besides for the fighter themselves, so it's refreshing to hear 40-year-old "Demolition Man" Alistair Overeem talk candidly about how he's into his final chapter.

He's had a remarkable fighting career that stretches back to 1999 and peaked with him holding the K-1, DREAM and Strikeforce heavyweight championships all at one time in 2010. Success like that guaranteed it was only a matter of time before he would arrive in the UFC, the biggest and most prestigious organization in the sport.

Overeem couldn't have had a better debut: he destroyed Brock Lesnar in under a round. With a start like that, what came next can only be seen as a major disappointment. Going into UFC Vegas: Overeem vs. Volkov, his record in the company is 12-7 and with the exception of a four-fight win streak that ended in a first round KO loss to heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, he's never been able to string together more than two wins in a row.

Sine his KO loss to Jairzinho Rozenstruik in 2019, he started talking, more seriously than ever, about how the UFC heavyweight championship is the one title he's always wanted and this is his "one last run" to get it.

It looked like it was working. The stand-up specialist was now, in his late 30s, finally learning how to grapple and, in his two 2020 wins against Walt Harris and Augusto Sakai, was a more complete fighter than ever.

To get his coveted three wins in a row, Overeem had to face Alexander Volkov. 6-2 in the UFC with heavyweight title reigns in both Russia's M-1 Global and Bellator MMA, Volkov has had prior success, but what makes him so threatening in the Octagon can be summed up by his nickname: Drago.

At 201cm tall and with 22 knockout wins on his record, the Russian fighter lives up to the name of Ivan Drago, the iconic villain from Rocky IV who was capable of punching so hard that he killed Apollo Creed in the ring.

At the start of the main event, it looked as if Overeem was making sure he didn't suffer that fate. Volkov's first strike caused Overeem to back up to the cage and turtle up with a high guard. He does this to get opponents to punch themselves out.

The difference here is that at 193cm, Overeem's chin is the same height as Drago's shoulder. While Overeem was covering up, Volkov was easily splitting the difference with straight punches and uppercuts. Drago Volkov has also visibly bulked up since his decision loss to Curtis Blaydes in June 2020, so each of those punches was doing damage.

Overeem wasn't entirely out of it in Round 1. He was throwing heavy lefts from his southpaw stance. However, they were single power shots designed to get a KO each time. Without follow-ups in the form of combinations or level changes with kicks and takedowns, Volkov easily handled it.

With 90 seconds remaining in Round 1, Volkov got a knockdown. It's unclear if it was a genuine knockdown or if Overeem slipped. Either way, it burst Overeem's nose and gave Volkov the confidence to press forward. In the final minute, Volkov opened up and showed off his impressive kickboxing.

Although Volkov couldn't have known, he had perhaps won the fight before Round 2 began. While talking to his corner, Overeem asked where his mouthpiece was even though it was in his mouth; this short-term memory loss is a sign he was already rocked by Volkov's striking.

In less than 30 seconds Volkov was chaining one-twos that forced Overeem to stay on the outside. At 3:43 of Round 2, one of these combinations caught Overeem flush on his bloody nose and sent him reeling. Referee Jason Herzog sensed the end was coming and when Overeem went down again after a left hook, he called the fight off instantly. The Demolition Man wasn't finished - but he would have been soon after, and it would have been ugly.

This was a sensational win for Alexander Volkov. With Blades guaranteed next against champion Miocic and Dana White waiting for Jon Jones to finally bulk up to make his heavyweight debut, this will only push Drago up a few steps in the ranking rather than make him a genuine contender in 2021.

The real question is what will happen next with Overeem. This was supposed to be his last run and he got stopped, decisively, by Volkov. Is this a bump in the road or will he hang up the gloves?

(Cover image: Referee Jason Herzog raises Alexander Volkov's hand in victory following his second round TKO win over Alistair Overeem in the heavyweight main event of UFC Vegas: Overeem vs. Volkov at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., February 6, 2020. /Zuffa)