Alexander
Volkov isn’t sure what the cageside judges were seeing during
his rematch with Ciryl Gane
at UFC
310.
Advertisement
Volkov dropped a controversial split-decision to Gane in their
featured heavyweight clash at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on
Saturday night. While their first meeting in June 2021 was a
clear-cut win for the Frenchman, Volkov appeared to make the
necessary adjustments the second time around. When the final
verdict was announced, even Gane appeared perplexed by the ruling,
as he tried to exit the Octagon without even giving a post-fight
interview.
“I saw the eyes of his team, and they didn’t expect this,” Volkov
said during his post-fight media scrum (video via MMAjunkie.com). “They didn’t expect the decision, and
he was upset, so my respect to Ciryl Gane.
He wasn’t like a guy who just walked out from the cage after the
decision, because he didn’t feel this, too. Nothing bad to my
opponent, I just don’t accept with the commission. I can’t agree
with this.”
According to the official scorecards released by the UFC, judges
Adalaide Byrd and Junichiro Kamijo both scored the first two rounds
in favor of Gane, which ultimately resulted in “Bon Gamin” winning
via split decision. Meanwhile, Eric Colon
submitted a 29-28 tally for Volkov.
“It was a bulls–t decision, for sure,” Volkov said. “I don’t know
what we’re going to do with the decision. I’m absolutely sure that
I won the fight. I did much more than Gane in all the fight. I do
not know who scored this fight with him, who are the judges, how
they decide this… I don’t see any damage from him to me and I
don’t understand why he won the fight.”
The 36-year-old Volkov had won his last four UFC outings prior to
Saturday night, including a victory over former interim title
challenger Sergei
Pavlovich this past June. The disappointing outcome at UFC 310
slowed the momentum of the former Bellator and M-1 Global champion,
but he could find some solace in the fact that UFC CEO Dana White
was in his corner. The two were seen speaking shortly after Volkov
exited the Octagon.
“He said —sorry for my English —I was ‘f—ed up with the judges,’
kind of this,” Volkov said. “I appreciated to the bosses of UFC,
they saw everything with his own eyes and they have a similar
opinion, but they can’t influence the commission…”