Heavyweight contender Alexander Volkov has been forced to withdraw from his rematch with Ciryl Gane at UFC 308 after suffering a knee injury, he announced Tuesday on Instagram.
UFC 308 is scheduled to take place Oct. 26 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Reports surfaced earlier this week that Gane-Volkov is being pushed back to UFC 310 on Dec. 7 in Las Vegas, though neither fighter – nor the UFC – has confirmed a new date.
Volkov wrote that he “will try to return to the gym and fight as soon as possible.”
Gane and Volkov – currently ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in the heavyweight division, respectively – first met in a UFC Fight Night main event in 2021, with Gane taking a unanimous decision victory.
It’s been over a year since Gane’s last bout, a second-round TKO of Serghei Spivac in the UFC Paris main event in September 2023. The victory got the Frenchman back on track after he lost to heavyweight champion Jon Jones in a vacant title fight that March. Gane is 2-2 in his last four Octagon appearances.
Volkov is coming off a decision win over Sergei Pavlovich at UFC Saudi Arabia in June. The Russian has been on a tear over the last two years, winning four straight to get back into title contention. Volkov is 5-1 since the first fight against Gane.
In the UFC 308 main event, Ilia Topuria will defend his featherweight title for the first time against former champion Max Holloway.
