Alexander Volkov predicts UFC Fight Night 190 thriller – if Ciryl Gane stays standing

LAS VEGAS – Alexander Volkov predicts big action in the UFC Fight Night 190 main event, so long as Ciryl Gane agrees to be a willing participant.

Volkov (33-8 MMA, 7-2 UFC) thinks Saturday’s heavyweight headliner with fellow contender Gane (8-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) has the potential to be something pretty special. Both men have strong striking fundamentals and are as physically imposing as it gets.

If they end up going tit-for-tat on the feet and it turns into a striker’s delight, Volkov said viewers better strap in.

“This fight, I think it will be one of the best this year because it’s two big, really high-level striking fighters, and it’s going to be a really interesting fight,” Volkov told MMA Junkie at UFC Fight Night 190 media day. “I’m more excited with it because I look at him, he’s a really good striker, and one time I feel like I (will) meet him anyway. I think it’s a good time for both of us. I want to fight with anybody who uses their striking skills, but not their wrestling or something. That’s why it’s a good fight for me. I hope he will not go to wrestling after some punches hit him, and we will continue this fight in the standup.”

Volkov has been around the sport much longer than Gane. He’s a former Bellator champion and has been in the UFC since November 2016. Gane, however, has as many fights as Volkov has career losses and only made his professional MMA debut in August 2018.

Experience could play a big role in the outcome, and Volkov admitted he’s at least in part counting on that edge.

“Experience means a lot, but he has physically, mentally more (freedom) because he has never lost and hasn’t been in really hard fights,” Volkov said. “I know what can happen in these long, hard fights, and he doesn’t understand that now. In this case, I have more than him because I was in different situations, and I came up from this to win, but he never feels this in the fight. In this case, I have more advantage than him. We’ll see how it goes in the fight.”

If Volkov can get his hand raised at UFC Fight Night 190, he would be 4-1 in his past five octagon appearances and very much in the mix to fight for the title. There’s a bit of a queue lined up with Francis Ngannou and Derrick Lewis reported to be targeted for a September clash, while Jon Jones is lingering to potentially fight the winner.

Volkov could be right there, but he said he’s not focusing on the aftermath, and only on what he needs to do against Gane.

“Right now I don’t want to look after this fight,” Volkov said. “We’ll see how it will be. For sure this fight, (if) I have a good performance, I will be one of the contenders. I am now one of the contenders, for sure, but we will see what will be after the fight, after Ngannou and Lewis. I don’t know right now. Just now I’m thinking about Ciryl Gane. I’m not looking behind him.”