Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov will meet in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. It is a pivotal matchup in the heavyweight division, and the winner could potentially earn a title shot against champion Francis Ngannou.
ESPN has Gane ranked No. 4 at heavyweight, while Volkov is right behind him at No. 6. While it seems like Derrick Lewis and Jon Jones are on the short list of Ngannou’s next challengers, whoever gets his hand raised Saturday could make his way into that conversation — especially with an impressive performance.
Gane (8-0) is one of the top up-and-coming fighters in any division, as well as a former teammate of Ngannou’s in Paris. The France native has won all five of his UFC fights, three of them by finish. Gane, 31, is coming off somewhat of a lackluster unanimous decision win over Jairzinho Rozenstruik in February.
Volkov (33-8) has won two straight and seven of nine in the UFC. The Russia native is coming off a second-round TKO of Alistair Overeem in February, perhaps the best victory of his career. Volkov, 32, has only two losses since 2015, to Lewis and Curtis Blaydes, another top heavyweight contender. Volkov has 25 finishes in 33 career victories.
In the co-main event, Tanner Boser and Ovince Saint Preux will clash in a unique heavyweight bout. Boser (19-8-1) has dropped two straight after winning two of three to begin his UFC run. Saint Preux (25-15), returning to heavyweight for the first time in three fights, has lost four of six after being a contender at light heavyweight.
Also on the card, Raoni Barcelos faces Timur Valiev in a bantamweight bout between action fighters, Andre Fili takes on Daniel Pineda in a featherweight scrap and veteran welterweights Tim Means and Nicolas Dalby face off.
Fight in progress:
Women’s bantamweight: Julia Avila (8-2, 2-1 UFC, -360) vs. Julija Stoliarenko (9-5-1, 0-1 UFC, +280)
Results:
Men’s featherweight: Charles Rosa (14-5, 5-5 UFC) defeats Justin Jaynes (16-8, 1-4 UFC) by split decision
Jaynes’ UFC run is in peril of going bust as he dropped his fourth in a row — and maybe lost some money as well. The 31-year-old, fighting in his adopted hometown, said before the bout that he was betting his purse on himself, and he started out like a man with a bankroll at stake. But Rosa dodged much of the aggressive striking and shifted the momentum midway through Round 1 with strong grappling, then fended off a late submission threat by Jaynes to secure the decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29).
— Wagenheim
Lightweight: Damir Hadzovic (14-6, 4-4 UFC) defeats Yancy Medeiros (15-8 1 NC, 6-8 1 NC UFC) by unanimous decision
Medeiros is a longtime training partner of Nate Diaz. And he almost pulled off a Diaz-style comeback.
After getting pummeled for the better part of three rounds, Medeiros nearly stole the fight in the third round, getting Hadzovic’s back and locking in a choke just before the bell. But Hadzovic held on without tapping for a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) victory to open the prelims.
That was a done deal good fight👊🏼
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) June 26, 2021
“Three rounds with a Hawai’ian warrior,” Hadzovic said. “That’s what I got. Thank you, Yancy, for testing me. Now I’m battle-tested.”
Hadzovic was landing big punching combinations on the feet throughout the fight. The incredibly tough Medeiros ate all of them, and when Hadzovic started running out of steam in the final round — not unlike what happened with Diaz and Leon Edwards at UFC 263 earlier this month — Medeiros took over. Medeiros landed some punches on the feet, took Hadzovic down and got his back several times. Though exhausted, Hadzovic fought off the choke and then refused to tap as seconds ticked off the clock to hang on for the win.
Hadzovic, 34, snapped a two-fight losing streak. The Bosnia native, who fights out of Denmark, picked up his first win since February 2019. Medeiros, a 33-year-old from Hawai’i, has dropped four straight following a three-fight winning streak.
— Raimondi
Still to come:
Heavyweight: Ciryl Gane (8-0, 5-0 UFC, -155) vs. Alexander Volkov (33-8, 7-2 UFC, +130)
Heavyweight: Tanner Boser (19-8-1, 3-3 UFC, -175) vs. Ovince Saint Preux (25-15, 13-10 UFC, +150)
Men’s bantamweight: Raoni Barcelos (16-1, 5-0 UFC, -220) vs. Timur Valiev (17-2, 1 NC, 1-0 1 NC UFC, +180)
Men’s featherweight: Andre Fili (21-8, 9-7 UFC, -230) vs. Daniel Pineda (27-14, 4-5 UFC, +190)
Welterweight: Tim Means (31-12-1, 1 NC, 13-9 1 NC UFC, -130) vs. Nicolas Dalby (19-3, 2 NC, 3-2-1 1 NC UFC, +110)
Lightweight: Renato Moicano (14-4, 6-4 UFC, -240) vs. Jai Herbert (10-2, 0-1 UFC, +200)
Light heavyweight: Kennedy Nzechukwu (8-1, 2-1 UFC, -135) vs. Danilo Marques (11-2, 2-0 UFC, +115)
Welterweight: Shavkat Rakhmonov (13-0, 1-0 UFC, -300) vs. Michel Prazeres (26-3, 10-3 UFC, +240)
Welterweight: Warlley Alves (14-3, 8-4 UFC, -230) vs. Jeremiah Wells (8-2, 0-0 UFC, +190)
Light heavyweight: Marcin Prachnio (14-5, 1-3 UFC, -195) vs. Ike Villanueva (18-11, 1-2 UFC, +165)