The UFC 310 tournament took place in Las Vegas, the main event of which was the fight between heavyweights Cyril Gan and Alexander Volkov. The rivals have already met once in the Octagon, and then Drago also lost to the Frenchman by decision.

Alexander did not agree with the verdict even then, but admitted that work needed to be done to correct the mistakes.

“The Main Test”

At the UFC Fight Night 190 tournament, which took place in June 2021 in Las Vegas, Gan and Volkov fought in the main fight of the evening. By that time, the 31-year-old Frenchman had only fought eight official fights; he made his debut in MMA only in 2018, and in general he had been seriously involved in martial arts for about five years. It would seem that he had little chance against the most experienced Russian, but it was the Good Guy who was considered the favorite in this pair.

Volkov, however, was also on the rise after victories over Harris and Overeem. The victory over Gan opened up the opportunity for the Russian to fight for the championship belt. Drago understood perfectly well that it would not be easy in the octagon under any circumstances, but he believed that his opponent was tough enough for him. The Russian noted that Gan moves well, but at the same time he is predictable and afraid of an oncoming blow.

Gan also paid tribute to Volkov, believing that this was his first time meeting such a dangerous fighter.

“This is a huge opportunity for me to prove myself.” Volkov is the main test in my career,” Gan said before the fight.

Cyril Gan and Alexander Volkov / Photo: © Handout / Handout / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

“The fight is hard and equal”

Gan showed a great sense of distance in the first round. Volkov tried to slow down his opponent with kicks, and in total almost two dozen low and middle kicks achieved their goal. But Drago’s hands couldn’t really reach the agile Frenchman. It couldn’t be said that the opponent had any advantage: The good guy was also careful and did not try to aggravate the situation.

After the break, the situation began to get more complicated for the Russian. Gan took the initiative, worked well with his hands, and Alexander’s even attacks with his legs began to fail. If before the fight Drago accused his opponent of being predictable, now he himself could not boast of much variety. Volkov failed to correct the situation in the third round; it seemed that only a knockout could save the Russian.

Alexander Volkov and Cyril Gan / Photo: © Handout / Handout / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

In the fourth round, Drago finally woke up, began to dominate, even his hands started working. In one episode, he seemed to shake Gan, but, alas, did not knock him out. And then the Frenchman did everything possible to slow down Volkov. Both fighters looked tired, and it was certainly difficult to predict the fate of the fifth round in advance.

In the final five minutes, Volkov failed to turn the tide of the fight. At the very end, Gan managed to poke our fighter in the eye, Alexander even needed the help of doctors. The Russian returned, but only to hear an unpleasant verdict from the judges some time later. Of course, our fighter did not like the decision; he believed that he was no worse than his opponent, but in the end Drago accepted the defeat with dignity.

— Not all battles are equally victorious. The fight was hard and even, and after reviewing it, it doesn’t seem so obvious to me. But I look at it from my side. It doesn’t matter whether you lost or not, the main thing is that you didn’t win! “I have room to grow and work on things, but this is the path, and everyone has their own,” the fighter wrote on social networks.