Biggest Winners, Loser For UFC Vegas 30

UFC Vegas 30 went down last night (Sat., June 26, 2021) inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada which saw Ciryl Gane earn a unanimous decision win over Alexander Volkov to gain more traction in the Heavyweight division (see it again here). In the co-main event, Tanner Boser knocked out Ovince Saint Preux, (highlights) while Timur Valiev picked up a huge win over Raoni Barcelos in main card action.

Biggest Winner: Ciryl Gane

The Heavyweight championship picture is a bit murky at the moment. Francis Ngannou is the champion and a fight against Derrick Lewis seemed to be all but certain. But the promotion has yet to book a fight and now it seems to be delayed a bit more. There is the possibility that UFC and Jon Jones can somehow miraculously come to an agreement and “Bones” jumps the line to leave “Black Beast” out in the cold, but another man is starting to make his move. And that is none other than Gane. The Frenchman picked up another huge win by out-scoring Alexander Volkov to earn a unanimous decision and his sixth straight victory inside the Octagon to improve to 9-0. Currently ranked No. 3 in the 265-pound division, “Bon Gamin” could be just one more win away from punching his ticket to the big dance.

Runner Up: Kennedy Nzechukwu

Yes, Timur Valiev and Tim Means could have taken this spot, as well, but let’s give Nzechukwu the love this time around after pulling off an impressive come-from-behind victory over Danilo Marques. “African Savage” found himself in some serious trouble early on, with Marques — a product of Demian Maia’s team — taking his back and trying like heck to get a rear-naked choke. And just when it seemed as if he was going to lock it in, Kennedy put his defense mode in full gear and managed to shake it off. He then put his striking on display, tagging Marques with one clean shot after another, putting him in trouble on several occasions before finally knocking him out in the third and final round. The victory is his third straight win inside the Octagon after coming up short in his UFC debut in March 2019. He also went home with a $50,000 post-bonus, his second straight such award.

Biggest Loser: Yancy Medeiros

Coming into the event, Medeiros made our list for the fighter the most in need of a win. That’s because he was coming into his fight against Damir Hadzovic with three straight losses. After the dust settled in “Sin City,” the Hawaiian-born scrapper went home with his fourth straight loss after coming up short on the judges scorecards. With his last win coming in Dec. 2017, I just don’t see how the promotion can justify keeping him around. Not that I want or like to see any fighter lose his spot on the UFC roster, this is just the nature of the business, especially when UFC is still trying to trim its roster.

For complete UFC Vegas 30 results and coverage click here.