Heavyweights take center stage at UFC Vegas 30

Last weekend’s Ultimate Fighting Championship card was punctuated by Matt “The Immortal” Brown, at the ripe old age of 40, scoring a knockout victory over Dhiego Lima in the first round.

The spotlight was also on the return of the Chan Sung Jung (AKA The Korean Zombie) versus Dan Ige. The Korean Zombie was much more patient in this fight and used his wrestling to earn takedowns on the ground, and neutralize Ige’s power. The Korean Zombie also used his jab to control the range in the stand up portion of the fight. Sung Jung secured the decision victory over the powerful Dan Ige, and earned himself a possible date with Max Holloway on the road to a title.

As the UFC’s June schedule comes to a close, heavyweights Alexander Volkov and Ciryl Gane take center stage in the main event Saturday night. For Volkov, with 22 knockouts in 33 victories, power has never been a concern. Most recently, Volkov has knock out victories over Walt “Big Ticket” Harris and UFC legend Alastair Overeem.

The only hole in Volkov’s game seems to be his wrestling. In June of 2020, Volkov was dominated by Curtis Blaydes, a former Division I wrestler at Northern Illinois. If Volkov could ever put it all together and pair his excellent striking with decent wrestling, the Russian would be incredibly dangerous in the heavyweight division.

Volkov’s opponent, Gane, is also a very technical striker, landing more than five significant strikes per minute on his way to a 8-0 record. Gane’s record is highlighted by a knock out victory over former champion Junior Dos Santos. Gane only averages just over one takedown per fight. Gane may lean on his wrestling a little bit more in this fight in order to gain an advantage and get a win Saturday night that could propel him in to title contention.

In the co-main event heavyweight Ovince Saint Preaux makes his return to the division vs Tanner Boser. Saint Preaux is known mostly for his work in the light heavyweight division. Saint Preaux even earned a light heavyweight title shot against John Jones in 2016. After that tough loss, even though St Preaux is an above Fighter with 25 wins, the Knoxville native was largely forgotten at light heavyweight. At heavyweight, Saint Preaux will look to rely on his wrestling to be successful against Boser. Saint Preaux will face a man with his UFC life on the line after three consecutive losses. It will be interesting to see whether St Preaux continues his quest for a heavyweight title with a win, or does Tanner Boser pull off the upset and stay alive in the UFC.

The last card of June is one that UFC fans won’t want to miss. Saturday’s card also features highlight reel Andre Fili versus Daniel Pineda in the featherweight division, as well as top prospect Kennedy Nzechuckwu versus Danillo Marquez in the featured prelim. The action begins at 1 PM with the prelims on ESPN plus. The main card is also on ESPN plus at 4 PM.

UFC Vegas 30 Main Card On ESPN+ (4 p.m. ET):

265 lbs: Tanner Boser vs. Ovince Saint Preux Nzechukwu

265 lbs: Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov

205 lbs: Danilo Marques vs Kennedy

170 lbs: Nicolas Dalby vs. Tim Means

155 lbs: Jai Herbert vs. Renato Moicano

145 lbs: Andre Fili vs. Daniel Pineda

UFC Vegas 30 Prelims Card On ESPN+ (1 p.m. ET):

135 lbs: Raoni Barcelos vs. Timur Valiev

170 lbs: Michel Prazeres vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov

205 lbs: Marcin Prachnio vs. Ike Villanueva

135 lbs: Julia Avila vs. Julija Stoliarenko

145 lbs: Justin Jaynes vs. Charles Rosa

155 lbs: Damir Hadzovic vs. Yancy Medeiros

170 lbs: Warlley Alves vs. Jeremiah Wells