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‘He Doesn’t Escalate It’- Alexander Volkov Says Ciryl Gane Can Never Finish a Fight

Published 07/02/2021, 6:33 AM EDT

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UFC heavyweight contender Alexander Volkov recently fought against the undefeated Ciryl Gane at UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs Gane. The latter picked up a unanimous decision win over the former in the headlining event.

The win ensured ‘Bon Gamin’ extended his undefeated streak to 9. His triumph at the UFC APEX also halted ‘Drago’ Volkov’s two-fight win streak.

In an interview with RT Sport MMA, Volkov detailed his loss against ‘Bon Gamin’ and also gave insights into what he thinks about the fighting style of the latter.

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“He doesn’t like to get hit,” Volkov said. “‘Afraid’ might be too much here. He doesn’t like it. You can see based on how he fights.”

“If he wasn’t so cautious, he would trade more. He would throw more without caring too much about taking a punch back. That’s why when he dominates, it often comes to a decision because he doesn’t escalate it.”

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According to Volkov, when fighters escalate it, they open themselves up and are prone to get hit. So, they either go forward to bring more damage to the opponent or stay careful to get a decision to win.

‘Drago’ added, “He (Gane) doesn’t like to escalate the situation because he cares about getting hit back.”

What’s next for Alexander Volkov and Ciryl Gane?

Volkov (33-9) needs to go back to the drawing board and figure out what went wrong. It has become a problem for him as he comes close to getting a title shot before it slips out from him.

He was riding well after picking up an impressive win against Alistair Overeem in his previous match, but again fell short against Gane. The same happened with him against Derrick Lewis in 2018.

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If one ponders over his next opponent, the only possible name at this point could be a match against Augusto Sakai, who is on a two-fight skid. Blaydes is also an interesting name, but the UFC may not rematch them after ‘Razor’ dominated ‘Drago’ just last June.

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Meanwhile, Gane is gearing up to face Lewis for the interim heavyweight title at UFC265.

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What do you think is next for Volkov? Also, do you think Gane should have had a shot at UFC gold so quickly? What do you make of ‘Drago’s comments on ‘Bon Gamin’? How may that fight style work in a bout against ‘The Black Beast’?

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Written by:

Akshyay Srichandan Mahapatra

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Akshyay Mahapatra is a UFC author for EssentiallySports. He wished to combine his passion for the UFC (that he has been following since 2008) as well as his love for writing. This motivated him to enter the world of combat sports journalism.
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