Source: ESPN | Title: UFC Fight Night Live results and analysis
Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov will meet in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. It is a pivotal matchup in the heavyweight division, and the winner could potentially earn a title shot against champion Francis Ngannou.
ESPN has Gane ranked No. 4 at heavyweight, while Volkov is right behind him at No. 6. While it seems like Derrick Lewis and Jon Jones are on the short list of Ngannou’s next challengers, whoever gets his hand raised Saturday could make his way into that conversation — especially with an impressive performance.
Gane (8-0) is one of the top up-and-coming fighters in any division, as well as a former teammate of Ngannou’s in Paris. The France native has won all five of his UFC fights, three of them by finish. Gane, 31, is coming off somewhat of a lackluster unanimous decision win over Jairzinho Rozenstruik in February.
Volkov (33-8) has won two straight and seven of nine in the UFC. The Russia native is coming off a second-round TKO of Alistair Overeem in February, perhaps the best victory of his career. Volkov, 32, has only two losses since 2015, to Lewis and Curtis Blaydes, another top heavyweight contender. Volkov has 25 finishes in 33 career victories.
In the co-main event, Tanner Boser and Ovince Saint Preux will clash in a unique heavyweight bout. Boser (19-8-1) has dropped two straight after winning two of three to begin his UFC run. Saint Preux (25-15), returning to heavyweight for the first time in three fights, has lost four of six after being a contender at light heavyweight.
Also on the card, Raoni Barcelos faces Timur Valiev in a bantamweight bout between action fighters, Andre Fili takes on Daniel Pineda in a featherweight scrap and veteran welterweights Tim Means and Nicolas Dalby face off.
Fight in progress:
Lightweight: Renato Moicano (14-4, 6-4 UFC, -240) vs. Jai Herbert (10-2, 0-1 UFC, +200)
Results:
Light heavyweight: Kennedy Nzechukwu (9-1, 3-1 UFC) defeats Danilo Marques (11-3, 2-1 UFC) by third-round TKO
For the second straight fight, Nzechukwu mounted a huge comeback.
Marques got his back in the first and second rounds, threatening with submissions. In the final round, Nzechukwu came out with a barrage of punches against a tired Marques en route to a TKO victory, 20 seconds into the third. Nzechukwu landed two left hands to start the round and then poured it on until referee Jason Herzog stepped in.
This guy has no quit in him
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) June 26, 2021
Nzechukwu, a 29-year-old Nigeria native fighting out of Dallas, has now won three straight, and his last victory over Carlos Ulberg in March also came from a big rally. Marques, a 35-year-old Brazil native, had a four-fight winning streak snapped.
— Raimondi
Welterweight: Shavkat Rakhmonov (14-0, 2-0 UFC) defeats Michel Prazeres (26-4, 10-4 UFC) by second-round submission
Rakhmonov remained unbeaten by controlling every second of the fight everywhere it went. The 29-year-old native of Uzbekistan, who fights out of Kazakhstan, finished off his second UFC win by dropping Prazeres with kicks and punches early in Round 2, unloading ground-and-pound and clamping on a rear-naked choke to elicit the tapout at 2:10.
Undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov is a PROBLEM 😤 #UFCVegas30 pic.twitter.com/Rpi9EC1H0D
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 26, 2021
For Prazeres, who is 39 and from Brazil, it was his second straight loss following an eight-fight winning streak. He had not competed since February 2019 because of a two-year US Anti-Doping Agency ban.
— Wagenheim
Welterweight: Jeremiah Wells (9-2, 1-0 UFC) defeats Warlley Alves (14-4, 8-5 UFC) by second-round KO
0:39
Jeremiah Wells drops Warlley Alves and tees off to force a second-round TKO victory.
With someone like Wells, who has incredible power, mistakes on the feet cannot be made. Alves, 30, threw a lazy leg kick — and paid for it. Wells, 34, cracked him with a right hand to the ear, sending Alves to the mat. As Alves was getting up, Wells landed a hard combination, then finished on the ground with more punches, posting a knockout at 30 seconds of the second round.
Wells, from Philadelphia, was making his UFC debut as a former Cage Fury Fighting Championship welterweight champion. Alves, a Brazil native, has dropped two straight and four of six.
— Raimondi
Light heavyweight: Marcin Prachnio (15-5, 2-3 UFC) defeats Ike Villanueva (18-12, 1-3 UFC) by second-round TKO
0:42
Marcin Prachnio stops Ike Villaneuva with a vicious body kick in Round 2.
Look at Prachnio, he’s on a UFC winning streak. The 32-year-old from Poland, who dropped his first three bouts in the Octagon, has since won two in a row, including this body-kick KO of Villanueva. Prachnio took early damage from a flurry of punches but gradually took control by immobilizing his opponent with leg kicks. Then, early in Round 2, he switched to southpaw and landed a kick to the liver area of Villanueva, who collapsed to the canvas at 56 seconds of the round. Villanueva, who is 37 and from Houston, has lost three of his four UFC fights.
— Wagenheim
Women’s bantamweight: Julia Avila (9-2, 3-1 UFC) defeats Julija Stoliarenko (9-6-1, 0-2 UFC) by third-round submission
0:41
Julia Avila lands back-to-back front kicks on the chin of Julija Stoliarenko and tops it off with a submission win in Round 3.
Avila damaged Stoliarenko in every round with her fists and then got the finish with her grappling skills. In a solid performance, Avila stopped Stoliarenko via rear-naked choke submission at 4:19 of the third round. Avila, a 33-year-old fighting out of Oklahoma City, has won four of five. The 28-year-old Stoliarenko, a Lithuania native, is still looking for her first UFC victory, dropping her second straight.
— Raimondi
Men’s featherweight: Charles Rosa (14-5, 5-5 UFC) defeats Justin Jaynes (16-8, 1-4 UFC) by split decision
Jaynes’ UFC run is in peril of going bust as he dropped his fourth in a row — and maybe lost some money as well. The 31-year-old, fighting in his adopted hometown, said before the bout that he was betting his purse on himself, and he started out like a man with a bankroll at stake. But Rosa dodged much of the aggressive striking and shifted the momentum midway through Round 1 with strong grappling, then fended off a late submission threat by Jaynes to secure the decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29).
— Wagenheim
Lightweight: Damir Hadzovic (14-6, 4-4 UFC) defeats Yancy Medeiros (15-8 1 NC, 6-8 1 NC UFC) by unanimous decision
0:44
Damir Hadzovic escapes with a decision after nearly getting choked out by Yancy Medeiros.
Medeiros is a longtime training partner of Nate Diaz. And he almost pulled off a Diaz-style comeback.
After getting pummeled for the better part of three rounds, Medeiros nearly stole the fight in the third round, getting Hadzovic’s back and locking in a choke just before the bell. But Hadzovic held on without tapping for a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) victory to open the prelims.
That was a done deal good fight👊🏼
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) June 26, 2021
“Three rounds with a Hawai’ian warrior,” Hadzovic said. “That’s what I got. Thank you, Yancy, for testing me. Now I’m battle-tested.”
Hadzovic was landing big punching combinations on the feet throughout the fight. The incredibly tough Medeiros ate all of them, and when Hadzovic started running out of steam in the final round — not unlike what happened with Diaz and Leon Edwards at UFC 263 earlier this month — Medeiros took over. Medeiros landed some punches on the feet, took Hadzovic down and got his back several times. Though exhausted, Hadzovic fought off the choke and then refused to tap as seconds ticked off the clock to hang on for the win.
Hadzovic, 34, snapped a two-fight losing streak. The Bosnia native, who fights out of Denmark, picked up his first win since February 2019. Medeiros, a 33-year-old from Hawai’i, has dropped four straight following a three-fight winning streak.
— Raimondi
Still to come:
Heavyweight: Ciryl Gane (8-0, 5-0 UFC, -155) vs. Alexander Volkov (33-8, 7-2 UFC, +130)
Heavyweight: Tanner Boser (19-8-1, 3-3 UFC, -175) vs. Ovince Saint Preux (25-15, 13-10 UFC, +150)
Men’s bantamweight: Raoni Barcelos (16-1, 5-0 UFC, -220) vs. Timur Valiev (17-2, 1 NC, 1-0 1 NC UFC, +180)
Men’s featherweight: Andre Fili (21-8, 9-7 UFC, -230) vs. Daniel Pineda (27-14, 4-5 UFC, +190)
Welterweight: Tim Means (31-12-1, 1 NC, 13-9 1 NC UFC, -130) vs. Nicolas Dalby (19-3, 2 NC, 3-2-1 1 NC UFC, +110)