UFC 310's Ciryl Gane frustrated by early toe injury, split decision win over Alexander Volkov

LAS VEGAS – Ciryl Gane isn’t happy with his victory at UFC 310 over Alexander Volkov, primarily due to an injury suffered early in the fight.

Gane (13-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) won a controversial split decision over Volkov (38-11 MMA, 12-5 UFC) on the main card of UFC 310 at T-Mobile Arena. Despite picking up his second consecutive win since a title fight loss to Jon Jones, the former interim heavyweight champ was frustrated because he injured multiple toes on his left foot in the first round.

“My first teep,” Gane told reporters during a post-fight news conference about when the injury occurred. “… You see, this changes a lot of my style because I love to be on my feet and be fast, in and out, land my jab. So I was really focused on it.”

As a result, Gane engaged in grappling with Volkov throughout the fight. Since he was unable to push off of his foot as needed, Gane was unable to be as effective as he would have liked while standing, and also unable to complete techniques in the grappling exchanges.

“I was frustrated about my fight because of this,” Gane said, pointing to his toe. “I was frustrated because I started my training in July for this fight, and you started your fight like this. Like the first second you land.”

Gane lost a vacant title fight to Jones at UFC 285 last March. That was also a frustrating fight for the French heavyweight, because he felt as if it was a different person in the octagon that night. For whatever reason, the real Gane was gone that night.

Despite the frustrating outcome in a narrow victory over Volkov, Gane has now won two straight and remains in the coversation atop the UFC heavyweight division. For now, it’s about healing up as the situation with the title picture between champ Jones and interim champ Tom Aspinall unfolds.

“I want to be back as soon as I can,” Gane said. “We’ll see for my toes. We’re going to go back to the training. During the fixation of my toes, we can do some conditioning training. We’re going to go back really early to the gym because I want to stay active. I want to be back in the cage as soon as I can.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.