LAS VEGAS – It appeared Alexander Volkov was going to even the score – until he didn’t. While many in the arena and online voiced their confidence Volkov did enough to win at least two of the rounds, two of the three judges for the fight disagreed.
On the UFC 310 main card Saturday at T-Mobile Arena, Ciryl Gane (13-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) defeated Volkov (38-11 MMA, 12-5 UFC) by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) to the surprise of many viewers in attendance and at home.
Despite the kickboxing backgrounds of the two competitors, the first and third rounds took place mostly on the ground. Gane took Volkov down early and worked for leg submissions.
The most striking action took place in Round 2. Both men landed damaging shots. The first major one was a spinning backfist from Volkov that put Gane on roller skates. After a couple more hard Volkov blows, Gane landed a rocking shot of his own.
In Round 3, Gane sought a kimura from the bottom but was unsuccessful as Volkov remained in a dominant position for much of the five minutes.
A back and forth battle from the start 👏@Ciryl_Gane gets the huge split decision victory at #UFC310 pic.twitter.com/wPrFSsUZxj
— UFC (@ufc) December 8, 2024
Gane moves to 2-0 against Volkov. Saturday’s fight was a rematch of a June 2021 bout, which Gane won by five-round unanimous decision. He has now won back-to-back fights.
In defeat, Volkov has a four-fight winning streak snapped. His previous defeat came against Tom Aspinall in March 2022.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 310 results include:
- Ciryl Gane def. Alexander Volkov via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Bryce Mitchell def. Kron Gracie via knockout (elbows) – Round 3, 0:39
- Dooho Choi def. Nate Landwehr via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 3:21
- Dominick Reyes def. Anthony Smith via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:46
- Vicente Luque def. Themba Gorimbo via technical submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 1, 0:52
- Movsar Evloev def. Aljamain Sterling via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Bryan Battle def. Randy Brown via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Eryk Anders def. Chris Weidman via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:51
- Joshua Van def. Cody Durden via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-26, 30-27)
- Michael Chiesa def. Max Griffin via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 1:56
- Chase Hooper def. Clay Guida via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 3:41
- Kennedy Nzechukwu def. Lukasz Brzeski via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:51
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.
