Heavyweights
#2 HW | Ciryl Gane (12-2, 9-2 UFC) vs. #3 HW | Alexander Volkov (38-10, 12-4 UFC)The UFC has been more open to rematches in recent years, and this one is a better choice to run back than most. Gane came to the UFC as a readymade heavyweight contender in 2019, having spent less than a year as a professional but also having nothing left to prove on the regional scene. The Frenchman’s combination of size, speed and fluidity as a striker allowed him to stay ahead of and take apart whoever was in his path. Not much changed in the UFC, with Gane having a claim as the company’s top heavyweight within two years of his Octagon debut despite missing a year with some health issues. Once Gane returned from that layoff at the end of 2020, he ran his typical game for one-sided wins over four heavyweight contenders—Junior dos Santos, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Alexander Volkov and Derrick Lewis—to win an interim championship, and he looked to be a tough challenge for Francis Ngannou ahead of their title unification bout that kicked off 2022. That was true on the feet, but it turned into a surprisingly wrestling-heavy affair in the back half of the bout, exposing some poor decision making from Gane and costing him what wound up as a narrow Ngannou victory. The situation opened back up for Gane quickly enough. He returned to his winning ways against Tai Tuivasa, and with Ngannou on the contractual outs with the UFC, Gane got tabbed to take on Jon Jones for the vacant title in the latter’s move up to heavyweight. That matchup only further drove home the dynamic from the Ngannou fight, as Gane looked terrible while getting taken down and tapped out in about two minutes. Gane rebounded once again, this time against Serghei Spivac—a pairing that seemed to drive home that the heavyweight division mostly exists in its own world, Jones aside. Spivac is one of the UFC’s better heavyweight wrestlers, but Gane outclassed him athletically and earned another knockout win. Who knows where the heavyweight title picture goes from here between Jones and Tom Aspinall, but it’s about as good a time as any to revisit Gane’s fight with Volkov, who looks to be in much better form than the first time these two met.
A former Bellator MMA champion, Volkov has been successful and relevant for the entirety of his eight years under the UFC banner, so it’s a bit of a surprise that “Drago” hasn’t managed to work his way to a title shot just yet. Volkov’s 6-foot-7 frame and historical durability make him a challenge for most of his opponents, and he nearly charged his way up to a title shot at the start of his UFC career, winning in his first four trips to the Octagon before Lewis knocked him out in a massive comeback. Volkov chugged along from there, but after getting outwrestled by Curtis Blaydes in 2020, the Russian went on a five-fight stretch of particularly poor performances. Volkov’s answer to the Blaydes loss was seemingly to try and bulk up, and thanks to some combination of that and the chaos of the coronavirus pandemic, the end result was him just looking flat and slow. However, it does speak to his skills that he still won three of those five fights, losing only to Gane and Aspinall. Volkov looked much better in a quick knockout of Rozenstruik halfway through 2022, and since then, it has been fairly smooth sailing, with his additional power now making him a more effective neutralizer and a more capable finisher. With Volkov now on a four-fight winning streak against strong competition and Gane having as little momentum as ever since his loss to Jones, the Russian does seem like a tempting pick to redeem himself from his performance in 2021. However, as flawed as Gane might be and for all the improvements that Volkov has made, the fact remains that the Frenchman is simply still much faster than most heavyweights and can keep them at bay without much trouble; and that rule still looks to apply here. Volkov could likely find a lot of success if he chooses to wrestle, but he rarely presses that part of his game nowadays, so this looks to be Gane winning another striking match in his typical fashion. The pick is Gane via decision.
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Pantoja vs. Asakura
Rakhmonov vs. Garry
Gane vs. Volkov
Mitchell vs. Gracie
Landwehr vs. Choi
The Prelims