Where are the judges: How Volkov lost a controversial fight to Ghana

Russian fighter Alexander Volkov lost to Frenchman Cyril Gan in the main card of UFC 310. The heavyweight bout lasted all three rounds and ended with Gan winning by split decision of the judges (29-28, 28-29, 29-28). Although these referee's assessments and caused a lot of controversy. Even UFC head Dana White admitted, "Volkov won. After the fight, I apologized to him." Now the rivals may face each other for a third time.

No guarantees

The meeting between Volkov and Gan was a rematch: the rivals have already fought in the summer of 2021 - then the Frenchman won by unanimous decision of judges, and then held a fight for the interim belt, while Francis Ngannou was absent. In the first fight, Gan convincingly out-shot Volkov and took all five rounds on the judges' scorecards.

Gan had four more fights after winning the interim title in his bout with Derrick Lewis, losing two of them. Cyril lost by unanimous decision to Francis Ngann for the title, then defeated Ty Tuivasa by knockout in Paris and immediately had another opportunity to take the belt, but was finished without a chance by Jon Jones in the American's heavyweight debut. Gan rehabilitated himself with a fight against Sergey Spivak, which also took place in France back in the fall of 2023 - since then Gan has not entered the octagon.

After his fight with the Frenchman, Volkov first defeated Marcin Tybura of Poland, and then lost to Aspinall, after which he had a series of victories over Jairzinho Rosenstruyk, Alexander Romanov, Tai Tuivasa and Sergey Pavlovich. Only with the last one Drago did not manage early, but his victory on points certainly can not be called controversial. If in the fight with Pavlovich Volkov surprised with his constant combing between rounds, before Gan he surprised even more by braiding his hair, as it is usually done by fighters with long hair.

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From the first seconds, Volkov went forward and immediately shook Gan a bit - he fell backwards after a hook. Already in the first minute, Alexander managed to get the Frenchman on a takedown. Volkov controlled his opponent from the half-guard and even tried to choke Gan from the rack, but the Frenchman got up and clinched the Russian. And in the middle of the period, Gan already moved Volkov, making a spectacular shot. Cyril was in the garde position, working Alexander with punches. The Frenchman attempted a heel curl on Volkov - the Russian almost got caught. At the end of the round Gan tightly caught Volkov's neck in a guillotine - it was hard for Alexander, but he made it to the siren.

At the start of the second round, Volkov caught Gan well with his jab, and after a minute, he delivered a powerful backfist punch and even shook the Frenchman slightly. Gan recovered immediately but looked confused. Volkov moved forward and continued to deliver punches - Alexander was no longer thinking about the fight. Gan had time to respond, but it didn't look as convincing - until a minute and a half before the end Gan threw a combination and shook the Russian a bit. Volkov immediately made a transfer and even tried to smother the Frenchman with a guillotine, but to no avail. Overall it seemed that Alexander looked better in the second segment. As Volkov was told in the corner, it was 1-1 through the rounds.

In the first minute of the final segment, Volkov went one-legged and moved Gan, but that didn't deter the Frenchman - he rather took advantage of the moment to try and catch his opponent on the counter. Gan clung to Volkov's arm and gave the Russian no room to maneuver. Alexander only indicated kicks to the body - it's unclear who looked more advantageous in this episode. In the last minute, Volkov looked like he was taking the round by control and number of punches, but nothing could be guaranteed.

Dana's confession

The judges' notes were intriguing - it was possible to give the victory to either one or the other, especially considering the close third round. The judges' opinions were divided - 29:28, 28:29, 29:28 in favor of Ghana. The decision is as controversial as possible, and Gan tried to refuse an interview as he was injured, but he was forcibly brought back. The Frenchman was unhappy with his performance, but did not say the decision was unfair.

Volkov, on the other hand, is confident that he was the winner of the fight.

- My respect to Cyril Gan, he also felt that he did not leave the cage as a winner, - said Alexander Volkov at the press conference. - So I can't say anything bad about him. I just don't agree with the judges' decision, I don't understand it. When I fought Gan, I didn't realize that he was injured. His broken finger, that's the damage I did to him. Another fact is that I won the fight. How can you give the win to a guy who was less active and took more damage?

Not only other title fighters, but also UFC president Dana White expressed a similar opinion.

- I think Volkov won. After the fight, I went up to him and apologized. In my opinion, he won," White said at the press conference.

UFC champion Oleg Taktarov agreed that Volkov won all three rounds.

- I don't understand how the judges didn't give him the win. There was only one clear shot from Ghana. By all parameters, Volkov won," he told Izvestia. - I don't know what he should have done, just to get his opponent like Jones. Maybe he should have taken more risks in the third round. Ghana had small details, but it was definitely not enough to award the Frenchman the win. I don't understand why the referees completely gave the first round to Cyril. It is absolutely incomprehensible this decision.

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Russian MMA fighter Vyacheslav Vasilevsky echoed Taktarov.

- If there is a scandal, then there is no smoke without fire - he said. - Surely it is worth it. Indeed, if even Dana White recognizes it, most likely, something there was not clean.

Now the UFC may offer the Russian and the Frenchman to hold a third fight, representatives of Volkov's team told TASS.

Note that in the framework of UFC 310 was held another fight with the participation of the Russian fighter. Monsar Evloev defeated American Aljamain Sterling by unanimous decision of the judges.