Ciryl Gane eases past Alexander Volkov to earn decision win

If you had any doubts about Ciryl Gane’s position as the UFC heavyweight division’s fastest-rising title contender, his dominant unanimous decision win over the dangerous Alexander Volkov should be enough to put those to bed.

Volkov was coming off a destructive knockout victory over Alistair Overeem last time round, but he looked timid as he struggled to work out the puzzle Gane provided.

Fighting at range despite being the smaller man, Gane was able to keep Volkov guessing thanks to a lightning-quick jab, power left hands and a range of kicks to the leg, body and up top.

Former Bellator MMA and M-1 global heavyweight champion Volkov was only able to muster some leg kicks and the occasional punching combination when it came to offense. Other than that, the Russian was unable to do anything to alter the course of the bout.

While it wasn’t the spectacular victory by either knockout or submission from Gane, his fight IQ, gameplan execution and arsenal of strikes were enough to impress and show why he’s seen as one of the next heavyweights in line for a title shot.

All three judges scored the fight in Gane’s favour after 25 minutes of action, providing scores of 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46.

Tanner Boser rallies to defeat Ovince St. Preux

Tanner Boser was able to halt his two-fight losing run against Ovince St. Preux on Saturday night, but that victory came in some strange circumstances.

The Canadian blitzed St. Preux from the outset, throwing kicks to the body and down low, along with punches, to provide “OSP” a tough return back to the UFC heavyweight division.

Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger St. Preux changed things up in the second round, scoring a takedown early in the co-main event’s middle stanza.

Boster, however, was able to slide out of that precarious position on the ground to mount his own offense. It appeared that he had grabbed the fence to get back to his feet, though the replay seemed to show that his fist was closed at all time and there was no foul involved in him return to a standing position.

Once upright, Boser was able to stuff a St. Preux takedown, before driving a knee to his Haitian-American opponent’s head in a Thai clinch.

Hurt, St. Preux began to retreat and Boser followed up with a big right hand to fell St. Preux and force the referee stoppage.

 

UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Volkov results

Heavyweight: Ciryl Gane def. Alexander Volkov by unanimous decision after five rounds
Heavyweight: Tanner Boser def. Ovince St. Preux by KO (punches) at 2:31 of round two
Bantamweight: Timur Valiev def. Raoni Barcelos by majority decision after three rounds
Featherweight: Andre Fili vs. Daniel Pineda was ruled a No Contest due to an accidental eye poke at 0:46 of round two
Welterweight: Tim Means def. Nicolas Dalby by unanimous decision after three rounds
Lightweight: Renato Moicano def. Jai Herbert by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:34 of round two
Light Heavyweight: Kennedy Nzechukwu def. Danilo Marques by TKO (punches) at 0:20 of round three
Welterweight: Shavkat Rakhmonov def. Michel Prazeres by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:10 of round two
Welterweight: Jeremiah Wells def. Warlley Alves by KO (punches) at 0:30 of round two
Light Heavyweight: Marcin Prachnio def. Isaac Villanueva by TKO (body kick) at 0:56 of round two
Women’s Bantamweight: Julia Avila def. Julija Stoliarenko by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:19 of round three
Featherweight: Charles Rosa def. Justin Jaynes by split decision after three rounds
Lightweight: Damir Hadžović def. Yancy Medeiros by unanimous decision after three rounds