Two top-5 heavyweights will meet when Ciryl Gane faces Alexander Volkov as the headliner of the June 26 UFC card.
According to an ESPN report, Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov have verbally agreed to fight one another on June 26 in what will be the second fight of the year for both men. There is no location for the event announced yet.
#4-ranked Ciryl Gane established himself as a top-5 UFC heavyweight in his unanimious-decision victory over Jairzinho Rozenstruik in February. There were recent rumblings of Gane fighting Derrick Lewis next, with both men publicly agreeing to fight, but the UFC has decided to pair Gane with Volkov instead. This could perhaps be because the promotion is looking to keep Lewis available for a potential title fight against Francis Ngannou in the event they are unable to come to terms with Jon Jones. Regardless, a victory for Gane here would get the undefeated heavyweight one step closer to a title fight himself.
Alexander Volkov has the same opportunity to get within range of a title fight. Particularly if it is Derrick Lewis who indeed faces Ngannou next, this fight could serve as a title eliminator for both men to see who gets the winner of that championship bout. Volkov most recently defeated Alistair Overeem in what would turn out to be the final UFC bout for The Reem. “Drago” is currently enjoying a two-fight winning streak and will look to make it three by handing Ciryl Gane the first loss of his career.
With this bout announced, the current lineup for the June 26 Fight Night card is as follows:
Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov
Ovince Saint Preux vs. Maxim Grishin
Anthony Hernandez vs. Punahele Soriano
Tim Elliott vs. Su Mudaerji
Michael Prazeres vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
Justin Jaynes vs. Charles Rosa
Who do you predict will emerge victorious between Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov?
