A lot has changed in the UFC heavyweight division since French superstar Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov first squared off in the Octagon in 2021.
At the time, Francis Ngannou was the undisputed heavyweight champion, fresh off a title-winning performance over the great Stipe Miocic, who announced his retirement after his bout with current titleholder Jon Jones at UFC 309 last month.
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Since that first meeting, both fighters have gone down very different paths: Gane has competed three times for UFC gold, while Volkov has steadily climbed the rankings with a handful of impressive outings.
Before they meet again on the main card of UFC 310: Pantoja vs Asakura on Saturday, December 7, in Las Vegas, Nevada, let’s look back at all that’s transpired since their first fight.
Their first meeting was what you’d expect when two elite strikers go head-to-head: an extremely methodical and technical bout with few grappling exchanges.
The fight was a close one in terms of volume and efficiency, with both fighters landing over 110 significant strikes at around 50 percent accuracy. Gane was the only one to initiate grappling, but he was unsuccessful on all four of his takedown attempts. In the end, Gane outworked Volkov just enough to secure a unanimous decision win.
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Less than two months later, Gane was fighting for UFC gold in an interim heavyweight title bout against the UFC’s knockout king Derrick Lewis.
The French star took care of business in Houston, dominating “The Black Beast” for 14 minutes before finding the finish late in the third round. Gane landed 112 strikes to Lewis’ 16 and connected on a staggering 80 percent of his significant strike attempts. The win improved Gane’s professional record to 10-0 and set up a future clash with Ngannou to unify the title.
Volkov’s next fight, similar to his bout with Gane, was a striking-heavy battle with Marcin Tybura.
The two went the distance, with Volkov showing more aggression and efficiency in his strikes, while also showing improvement on the ground, finishing the final two minutes of the first round in top control. Volkov secured a unanimous decision win, cementing his position as the No. 5 ranked contender.
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After defeating Lewis to capture the interim title, Gane looked to claim undisputed gold against then-champion Ngannou in the main event at UFC 270.
The fight was more competitive than most would have expected, with Ngannou landing very few power shots over the course of 25 minutes. Gane stood his ground for the majority of the fight and landed 20 more significant strikes than the champion. However, Ngannou utilized wrestling, something fans saw very little of throughout his UFC career up until that point, landing four of his five takedown attempts. Gane attempted three submissions, but Ngannou did well to evade and stay in control for nearly eight-and-a-half minutes on the mat.
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All three judges scored the fight for Ngannou, handing Gane his first loss as a pro.
Volkov suffered his latest setback in March of 2022 when he went up against current interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall. The English superstar secured a takedown just 45 seconds into the first round and worked his way to a first-round submission win.
After his fight with Aspinall, Volkov hit a new gear, and it started when he met Jairzinho Rozenstruik in June of 2022.
Just over two minutes into the opening round, Volkov landed a thunderous right hand to wobble Rozenstruik up against the cage. He followed it up with a flurry of strikes to drop Rozenstruik to his knees and collect his first first-round stoppage victory in the UFC.
After falling short against Ngannou for the heavyweight title, Gane returned to the Octagon for a homecoming against Tai Tuivasa in Paris, France. Tuivasa was coming off five straight knockout victories, including a second-round finish over Lewis earlier that year.
Despite Tuivasa’s quick rise to become one of the hottest heavyweight contenders, Gane proved once again that his striking is some of the best the division has ever seen. Despite one heavy connection from Tuivasa that dropped Gane in the second round, the 34-year-old dominated the fight, outlanding Tuivasa 110-29. After wearing him down, Gane put his foot on the gas until finding the TKO finish with less than a minute to go in the third.
Gane’s impressive performance over Tuivasa earned him his second shot at undisputed heavyweight gold against Jon Jones. It was not Gane’s night, however, as Jones secured a first-round submission win.
After a nine-month layoff, Volkov picked up right where he left off, making quick and easy work of Alexander Romanov.
Romanov shot for a takedown almost immediately, but Volkov defended well. As soon as they separated, Volkov went to work. A beautiful body kick forced Romanov to shoot another takedown, which Volkov reversed. Now in control on the mat, Volkov unloaded ground-and-pound before the referee was forced to step in and stop the fight.
Gane’s next fight against Serghei Spivac was nearly a carbon copy of his 2022 campaign, in which he rebounded from a title fight loss in impressive fashion against Tuivasa.
Following his loss to Jones in March, Gane returned to Paris and put on a dominant showing against Spivac to earn a Performance of the Night bonus. It was another lopsided performance for Gane, who outstruck Spivac 110-11 before finishing the “Polar Bear” in the second round.
After back-to-back first-round TKOs, Volkov took his fight with Tai Tuivasa as an opportunity to show his improvements as a grappler.
In the second round, Volkov capitalized on a slip and followed Tuivasa to the mat to gain top control. From there, rather than landing his usual ground-and-pound strikes that have stopped opponents in the past, Volkov searched for a submission. Tuivasa defended well and got back to his feet.
Halfway through the second, Volkov caught one of Tuivasa’s kicks, putting him off balance and sending him to the mat. Volkov jumped on him and landed numerous ground-and-pound strikes to wear Tuivasa down. With 30 seconds to go in the round, Volkov sunk in an Ezekiel choke, forcing the tap to claim his first submission win in the UFC.
In June, Volkov collided with former training partner Sergei Pavlovich who, up until his loss against Tom Aspinall for the interim heavyweight title, had knocked out his previous six consecutive opponents.
That didn’t intimidate Volkov for one moment, however, as he cruised his way to a unanimous decision victory to make it five wins in his last six and four in a row. Volkov is now the No. 3 ranked heavyweight, one spot behind Gane atop the list of contenders. Their high-stakes rematch takes place this Saturday at UFC 310: Pantoja vs Asakura in Las Vegas.
UFC 310: Pantoja vs Asakura took place live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 7, 2024. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
