A heavyweight rematch that had been set for Abu Dhabi now will take place in a different desert.
According to a report from La Sueur, an [autotag]Alexander Volkov[/autotag] (38-10 MMA, 12-4 UFC) injury has pushed his fight with [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC)) from UFC 308 next month to UFC 310 in December. UFC officials have yet to formalize the change.
UFC 308 is set for Oct. 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Now the big men will throw down a second time Dec. 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Former Bellator champion Volkov has won four straight fights against Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Alexandr Romanov, Tai Tuivasa and Sergei Pavlovich to put himself firmly back into title contention. That’s a spot he was when he first fought Gane in mid-2021. In that headliner, Gane walked away with a unanimous decision win.
In the aftermath, Volkov rebounded with a win over Marcin Tybura, then was submitted by current interim champion Tom Aspinall before he went on his current 4-0 run. That run includes first-round knockouts of Rozenstruik and Romanov and a second-round submission of Tuivasa.
Gane beat Volkov in their first fight while he was on his ascension up the heavyweight ladder. It moved him to 9-0 and led to an interim heavyweight title fight with Derrick Lewis at UFC 265, which he won by third-round knockout. Gane dropped a decision in January 2022 to Francis Ngannou in a title unification bout, but it didn’t take him long to work his way back.
After a third-round bonus-winning knockout of Tuivasa, Gane got another title shot when he fought Jon Jones for the belt left vacant by Ngannou’s move to the PFL. But Jones submitted him in about two minutes to become champion, and put Gane back in the pack.
A year ago, Gane bounced back with a bonus-winning knockout of Sergei Spivac in front of his home fans in Paris, and that set up the crucial fight with Volkov.
With the change, the UFC 308 lineup now includes:
- Champ Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway – for featherweight title
- Khamzat Chimaev vs. Robert Whittaker
- Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic
- Shara Magomedov vs. Armen Petrosyan
- Dan Ige vs. Lerone Murphy
- Rafael dos Anjos vs. Geoff Neal
- Myktybek Orolbai vs. Mateusz Rebecki
- Said Nurmagomedov vs. Daniel Santos
- Brunno Ferreira vs. Abus Magomedov
- Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Justin Tafa
- Rinat Fakhretdinov vs. Nursulton Ruziboev
- Farid Basharat vs. Victor Hugo
- Ismail Naurdiev vs. Bruno Silva
- Ibo Aslan vs. Raffael Cerqueira
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.