While still loaded with prominent names and big stakes, next month’s UFC 308 pay-per-view has lost one of its main card matchups. After staging a UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi early last month, mixed martial arts’ leading promotion will soon be back in the Middle East for its annual October numbered event at the […]
While still loaded with prominent names and big stakes, next month’s UFC 308 pay-per-view has lost one of its main card matchups.
After staging a UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi early last month, mixed martial arts’ leading promotion will soon be back in the Middle East for its annual October numbered event at the Etihad Arena.
Among a slew of other ranked collisions was set to be a heavyweight rematch between former interim champion Ciryl Gane and charging Russian Alexander Volkov. That, however, doesn’t appear to be the case anymore.
Per French outlet La Sueur, the bout has been postponed due to an injury on the side of “Drago.” The pair are now expected to run back their 2021 bout at UFC 310 in Las Vegas on December 7.
With this news, the current fights expected to take place at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 26 are as follows:
Ilia Topuria (C) vs. Max Holloway (featherweight championship main event)
Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev (middleweight co-main event)
Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Raki? (light heavyweight)
Lerone Murphy vs. Dan Ige (featherweight)
Geoff Neal vs. Rafael dos Anjos (welterweight)
Sharabutdin Magomedov vs. Armen Petrosyan (middleweight)
Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Nursulton Ruziboev (welterweight)
Said Nurmagomedov vs. Daniel Santos (bantamweight)
Mateusz R?becki vs. Myktybek Orolbai (lightweight)
Bruno Silva vs. Ismail Naurdiev (middleweight)
Farid Basharat vs. Victor Hugo (bantamweight)
Justin Tafa vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu (heavyweight)
Abus Magomedov vs. Brunno Ferreira (middleweight)
Ibo Aslan vs. Raffael Cerqueira (light heavyweight)
Despite the history between Curtis Blaydes and Tom Aspinall with the way their first fight ended, having this match-up for the interim heavyweight title was not the first choice for the co-main event of UFC 304. If the UFC was able to make it happen, Ciryl Gane was reportedly the frontrunner to face Aspinall in […]
Despite the history between Curtis Blaydes and Tom Aspinall with the way their first fight ended, having this match-up for the interim heavyweight title was not the first choice for the co-main event of UFC 304.
If the UFC was able to make it happen, Ciryl Gane was reportedly the frontrunner to face Aspinall in Manchester this Saturday.
It was later revealed that Gane was unable to fight on July 27 due to previous commitments that he had made to working on a movie.
The French fighter received criticism for this as a result but as his coach recently explained, the decision wasn’t made as choosing one or the other.
Fernand Lopez Explains Why Ciryl Gane Couldn’t Fight At UFC 304 After Scheduling Issues
In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Gane’s coach Fernand Lopez explained how this whole process came together and why they were unable to take the interim title fight.
This movie project has been something that “Bon Gamin” was set to work on since much earlier in the year but the plans were changed once the UFC came to him and his team with the idea of fighting Sergei Pavlovich.
Lopez states that Pavlovich was unable to take the fight in March so they made an arrangement to push back the filming so that Gane could fight the Russian powerhouse at UFC 300 in April.
Lopez referenced how in trying to make the dates work for all parties, the UFC was in communication with Netflix to try and reschedule the movie’s filming schedule to allow for Gane to compete at UFC 304.
Unfortunately, they were unable to push the dates back even further which led to Aspinall defending the interim title in a rematch with Blaydes instead.
“When we went back with Netflix, signed the deal with Netflix, we couldn’t stop it. The UFC couldn’t stop it. Matter of fact, I give the contact of Netflix and I give the contact of the producer of the movie that was very kind, I give that contact to the UFC and try to talk with them. UFC have very good relationship with Netflix, with the global Netflix, and they was trying to reschedule thing and change thing I say okay, if you can make it to move things, to remove the movie and push it a little bit back, then we are good to go.
“We will do that, we will wait and we will do the fight and then wait for the movie and they tried with the UFC. Hunter Campbell himself call Netflix to try to push back the filming but that was too much money to spend. That was too much thing to move around and again, this is something that is not a problem. We don’t have any beef with the UFC talking about this movie.”
UFC heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes wasn’t surprised to see Ciryl Gane get the call for Jon Jones’ heavyweight debut last year. Having spent three years away from the Octagon following his final defense of the light heavyweight title in 2020, Jones successfully arrived in a new weight class at UFC 285 in March 2023. The […]
UFC heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes wasn’t surprised to see Ciryl Gane get the call for Jon Jones’ heavyweight debut last year.
Having spent three years away from the Octagon following his final defense of the light heavyweight title in 2020, Jones successfully arrived in a new weight class at UFC 285 in March 2023.
The all-time MMA great achieved his two-division ambitions by submitting former interim champion Ciryl Gane in the first round of their clash for the then-vacant heavyweight title.
Many questioned the decision to place “Bon Gamin” opposite Jones given that he boasted a sole win over Tai Tuivasa since falling short against Francis Ngannou in early 2022. Blaydes was among those branded a logical candidate by a portion of the community, with “Razor” coming off three straight wins.
But the American didn’t get the opportunity, and he believes Jones’ desire for a more comfortable heavyweight debut played a part in that…
Blaydes: A Lot Of Heavyweights ‘Would Have Been Harder’ For Jones Than Gane
“Razor” insisted that the decision to go a different route for Jones’ first foray into the weight class was not a shock, both down to the marketing edge for French star Gane and the increased difficulty he has no doubt the light heavyweight legend would have had against him at UFC 285.
“I wasn’t surprised (that UFC booked Gane vs. Jones). I’ve been with the UFC for eight years now. Like, I get it,” Blaydes said. “Marketing. He’s French, which means he brings in all the fans over there. He has an aesthetically pleasing style. A lot of people don’t like wrestling, so I get that. He does all the fancy karate stance and all that. It’s easy to market his highlights versus the highlights that I have.
“Also, i think they asked Jon and were probably like, ‘Jon, do you wanna go against this guy who doesn’t know how to wrestle? Or this guy, who knows how to wrestle?’ I think he did the business, smart decision,” Blaydes continued. “I am a harder fight for him than Gane; I think a lot of guys are a harder fight for him than Gane.”
With the chance to win the interim belt this weekend, the state of the division would suggest that a Jones fight would be back on the cards for Blaydes given the Rochester native’s status as the other heavyweight titleholder.
Former interim heavyweight champion, Ciryl Gane has denied refusing to fight incoming UFC 304 headliner and current interim titleholder,…
Former interim heavyweight champion, Ciryl Gane has denied refusing to fight incoming UFC 304 headliner and current interim titleholder, Tom Aspinall – claiming the British star has been strategic with his callouts, limiting them to periods when he cannot compete.
As for current interim kingpin, Aspinall, the Atherton native co-headlines UFC 304 at the end of this month, himself rematching perennial contender, Curtis Blaydes – attempting to defend his championship.
And initially linked with a showdown against Gane on the same card in Manchester, rumors surfaced that the Frenchman had turned down the pairing, choosing instead to feature in an upcoming movie in an acting role.
Ciryl Gane offers to meet Tom Aspinall sooner than later
However, off the back of booking his Middle East matchup with Volkov, Gane has claimed he will eventually share the Octagon with Aspinall in the future, after voicing his dismay with the timing of his callouts.
“He (Tom Aspinall) only accepts my fights when I cannot,” Ciryl Gane said on Twitch. “He likes to say that I refuse him but the truth is that I have already called him out on the networks. Now that he is above [in the rankings[, he allows himself to say, ‘No, no, no’. No problem, we’ll meet each other.” (via Google Translate)
Sidelined since last year’s annual UFC Paris event in September, hometown favorite, Gane most recently landed a shutout knockout win over common-foe, Serghei Spivak in front of a raucous crowd at the Accor Arena.
Prior to that, Gane dropped just his second career loss in the form of a dominant opening round guillotine choke submission loss to Jon Jones in the pair’s vacant heavyweight championship showdown.
Who would win in a future title showdown: Tom Aspinall or Ciryl Gane?
Welcome to MMA News Today, a daily feature running down the most interesting stories in the world of mixed martial arts. For July 12, 2024, we’re taking a look at: Fans Give Confused Reaction To Sean O’Malley Winning ‘Best UFC Fighter’ At The ESPYs ESPN’s annual awards, The ESPYs, took place last night where Bantamweight Champion Sean O’Malley […]
Welcome to MMA News Today, a daily feature running down the most interesting stories in the world of mixed martial arts. For July 12, 2024, we’re taking a look at:
Fans believe Pereira was snubbed over O’Malley
Goggins says Strickland has not replied to his challenge
Gane and Volkov set to meet again at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi
Fans Give Confused Reaction To Sean O’Malley Winning ‘Best UFC Fighter’ At The ESPYs
Whilst some fans questioned whether the period of time that is judged meant that the award was voted this way, many were simply baffled at the idea of Pereira not winning this award regardless of which time frame you want to look at.
“Bro sean has fought 3 ( 4 if you county the Pedro fight) times since 2022. Alex has fought 8 smh they did bad on this”
“Alright the UFC pushing Sean as the next superstar allegations are undeniable now”
“what exactly is the criteria lmao”
David Goggins Challenges Sean Strickland To Three Days Of Training For Three Rounds Of Boxing
David Goggins vs. Sean Strickland has turned into a surprising social media beef as of late, with both men speaking about one another in videos.
Following the former UFC middleweight champion’s comments about Navy SEALs and Goggins’ military career, the athlete and public speaker issued a challenge to him to test what Strickland is truly made of.
“Sean Strickland, I know you’re doing all this for clickbait. We had a DM the other day, me and you, back and forth. I was pretty much DMing you because you called me a b**** and talked about my military career and going out here once again and trying to, like you said in your DM, trying to be a clown. You’re an MMA fighter and you’re also a comedian so, you know, I’m not much of a comedian at all.”
As seen below, Goggins recently shared a look at the message that he sent to Strickland which has not received a reply as of yet, calling to train and spar with him.
He continued to say that he is done with exchanging videos and that this is his final offer- and whether the former champion takes it or not is up to him.
“You say you can f*** me up in training, I responded to that video to you and this is what I said. You have yet to respond to this and so anytime you want to train with me, I am ready to train with you. I am done with the videos.”
Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov 2 Reportedly Set For UFC 308 In Abu Dhabi
The UFC is heading back to Abu Dhabi in October for UFC 308, as has become a tradition for the MMA leader’s calendar.
A first match-up has been reported for this card with Ag. Fight claiming that former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane will be facing Alexander Volkov in a rematch on October 26.
Many were expecting to see Gane return on the Paris card in September, after he reportedly turned down the option to fight Tom Aspinall at UFC 304 later this month.
Volkov will be looking to avenge his loss to “Bon Gamin” in 2021 off the back of a big victory over Sergei Pavlovich in Saudi Arabia last month.
Top UFC heavyweights will run it back in the Middle East this coming October. After returning to the Etihad Arena for UFC Fight Night: Cory Sandhagen vs. Umar Nurmagomedov this weekend, the mixed martial arts leader will be back in Abu Dhabi for its annual October pay-per-view there. And the UFC 308 numbered event has […]
Top UFC heavyweights will run it back in the Middle East this coming October.
After returning to the Etihad Arena for UFC Fight Night: Cory Sandhagen vs. Umar Nurmagomedov this weekend, the mixed martial arts leader will be back in Abu Dhabi for its annual October pay-per-view there.
And the UFC 308 numbered event has a major heavyweight matchup confirmed. Last month, Brazilian outlet Ag. Fight reported that former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane (12-2) will run it back with seven-time UFC headliner Alexander Volkov (38-10) on October 26.
The pair previously collided in a UFC Fight Night main event at the Apex in June 2021, with Gane winning in lopsided fashion on the scorecards after five rounds.
On Saturday, Dana White confirmed the matchup in a video on social media.
Gane Ends Year Layoff Against Familiar Foe At UFC 308
When he makes his long-awaited return later this year, Gane will be tasked with stalling the resurgence of a longtime heavyweight veteran in Volkov.
The Frenchman hasn’t competed since the UFC Fight Night in Paris last September. For the second straight year, he recorded a main event knockout win in front of his home fans, this time at the expense of Serghei Spivac. That result marked a rebound performance six months on from a quick submission loss for Gane at the hands of Jon Jones in their vacant title fight.
According to reports, “Bon Gamin” turned down the chance to challenge for Tom Aspinall’s interim gold this month at UFC 304 in Manchester, England, owing to acting commitments. He’ll now also miss a France-held card for the first time, with Renato Moicano and Benoît Saint Denis headlining at Accor Arena on September 28 instead.
Volkov, meanwhile, is flying high having won five of six since his loss to Gane in 2021. And following a defeat to Aspinall the following year, the Russian has reeled off four consecutive triumphs, most recently outpointing his fellow countryman Sergei Pavlovich at the UFC Fight Night in Saudi Arabia last month.
“Drago” will now return to the Middle East looking for redemption opposite Gane.