UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Volkov

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns this weekend, Saturday, June 26 in Las Vegas for UFC Fight Night. It is the build-up card for UFC’s massive 264 event featuring the third bout between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor.

Before we get to that show, Fight Night will come at us this weekend with a batch of top bouts. Fight Night’s card has already been altered as Ramazan Emeev has replaced in a welterweight bout against Warlley Alves. Emeev had visa issues and was taken off the show. Replacing fighters unfortunately seems like a common occurrence in UFC these days. Taking Emeev’s place will be UFC newcomer Jeremiah Wells.

UFC Fight Night Vegas 30

The main card for UFC Fight Night is massive with six bouts taking place. The prelims will see another seven fights. It is a massive 13-bout show giving combat sports fans a lot to wager on.

The main event features unbeaten rising star Ciryl Gane taking on long-time contender heavyweight title contender Alexander Volkov. The main card will start early on Saturday with bell time for the first match at 5 pm EST.

The Las Vegas afternoon show will also feature Ovince St. Preux taking on late-notice replacement Tanner Boser, Danilo Marques will fight on Kennedy Nzechukwu in a clash of  205-pound hopefuls, and Andre Fili duke it out with Daniel Pineda at 145 pounds.

What’s the main card and odds of UFC Fight night?

Odds for the fights come from Bet365 as of Wednesday, June 23. Other sportsbooks are available, so check your favourite online bookie to wager on the great UFC fights this Saturday.

• Heavyweight: #3 Ciryl Gane (-170) vs. #5 Alexander Volkov (+140)
• Heavyweight: Tanner Boser (-170) vs. Ovince St. Preux (+140)
• Bantam weight: Raoni Barcelos (-220) vs. Timur Valiev (+180)
• Featherweight: Andre Fili (-225) vs. Daniel Pineda (+187)
• Welterweight: Tim Means (-138) vs. Nicolas Dalby (+110)
• Lightweight: Renato Moicano (-250) vs. Jai Herbert (+200)

Who will win UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Volkov?

Gane is a rising star and goes into the fight with a UFC record of 5-0 (all-time MMA record of 8-0). It feels like Volkov is just a bump in the road for the fighter. An upset would be quite big at this stage in both fighter’s careers.

Volkov is a lifetime 33-8 in MMA and 7-2 in UFC. It isn’t a bad record at all. However, it feels like the #5 ranked heavyweight fighter is here to improve Gane’s record. Gane may be in line for a heavyweight title fight versus Francis Ngannou. There are two fighters ahead of Gane currently, but a win versus Volkov could send him up the rankings past #3 Derrick Lewis and #2 Stipe Miocic.

Volkov is taller at 6ft 7in compared to Gane’s 6ft 4in and outweighs the Frenchman by five pounds. However, Gane has a slight reach advantage at 81in compared to 80in. Volkov’s height gives him a leg reach of 47.5in compared to 42in. This could make a massive distance in the kick/strike game.

Based on UFC’s stats, Volkov absorbs more punches per minute at 3.3. That isn’t a great stat going up against an undefeated fighter. Volkov is on a two-fight win streak. He has tallied 22 career wins by knockout with just three coming by submission. If he can use the slight reach advantage in the punch game, he could knockout Gane. However, if the two are on the mat, don’t expect a submission. Volkov’s last two fights, both wins, ended in the second round by knockout.

Gane is on an eight-fight win streak with three finishing in knockouts and three in submissions. His fight game appears more well-rounded than Volkov’s. Gane’s last fight was in February and went the distance. He won by decision over Rozenstruik. Keep in mind that two of Gane’s last three fights went the distance.

Gane vs. Volkov pick

Gane is on an upward trajectory. Volkov should be a difficult opponent on Saturday. This fight could go the distance with Gane picking up the win by decision. Volkov’s average fight time is 15 minutes while Gane’s is 13:18 according to UFC’s official stats. This fight could certainly be a Gane win by decision as it goes the distance. 

Where is the smart money going?

Check out Zcode System’s line reversal tool to see where the smart money is going for all of the bouts at UFC Fight Night for Saturday, June 26.