Alexander Volkov's Injury Postpones Highly-Anticipated Rematch with Ciryl Gane to UFC 310

Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov

The eagerly awaited heavyweight rematch between Alexander Volkov and Ciryl Gane, originally slated for UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi, has been postponed due to an injury suffered by Volkov. According to a report from La Sueur, the fight will now occur at UFC 310 in December at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, though the UFC has yet to make an official announcement.

Volkov, a former Bellator champion, has been on a dominant four-fight win streak, earning impressive victories over top contenders like Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Alexandr Romanov, Tai Tuivasa, and Sergei Pavlovich. This surge in performance has positioned him back in title contention, a familiar territory for the Russian powerhouse. His last meeting with Gane was a tough contest, where the Frenchman secured a unanimous decision victory in 2021. Volkov's path to redemption was rocky but relentless, bouncing back with a win over Marcin Tybura before suffering a setback against current interim champion Tom Aspinall. Since then, he has shown his resilience with decisive finishes, including two first-round knockouts.

Ciryl Gane, on the other hand, has experienced a meteoric rise since their first encounter. After defeating Volkov, he captured the interim heavyweight title by stopping Derrick Lewis at UFC 265. However, his journey hit a bump when he lost to Francis Ngannou in a title unification bout. Gane's attempt to capture the vacant heavyweight belt against Jon Jones also ended in disappointment, with a quick submission loss that left him reassessing his approach.

Gane bounced back with a spectacular knockout victory over Sergei Spivac in front of an electrifying Paris crowd. That win set up the anticipated rematch against Volkov, which is now set for December. This rematch provides Gane an opportunity to solidify his standing among the heavyweight elite and prove that his initial victory over Volkov was no fluke.

With this shift, UFC 308 still promises a stacked card headlined by Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway for the featherweight title, alongside intriguing bouts like Khamzat Chimaev vs. Robert Whittaker and Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic. The excitement now builds for UFC 310, where two of the heavyweight division’s most skilled fighters will collide once again, promising a high-stakes rematch that could shake up the title landscape.