UFC heavyweight coach Alexander Volkov Taras Kiyashko, in an interview with SE, told which fighters could beat Francis Ngannou, and also said that Volkov did not have enough use of wrestling to defeat Gan last June.
“In fact, Sanya Volkov [по силам одолеть Нганну]- said Kiyashko “SE”. – Stipe Miocic can beat him. Maybe Cyril is in rematch. I think he was not ready to fight Ngannou. He didn’t expect this. If there is a rematch, then Cyril will act differently. Any top 5 fighter can put up a fight and beat Ngannou. But the fact that Ngannou gets better from fight to fight does not make it easier for them. [остальным]. Now he breathes, and beats, and fights. The more interesting it will be to look at the confrontation, the more interesting it will be to find out who will win and take the crown from him. Miocic did it once, so we’ll see».
Ngannou defeated Gan via unanimous decision at UFC 270. In June 2021, Gan defeated Volkov via unanimous decision.
“first thought [после просмотра боя Нганну и Гана] “It’s not Cyril Gan who showed us how to beat Ngannou, but Ngannou showed us how to beat Cyril Gan,” Kiyashko noted. “In fact, Ngannou surprised everyone. And he surprised me not only by the fact that he breathed for five rounds, but also by the fact that he showed that you don’t need to run after Cyril around the octagon, but you just need to press him, transfer him to the ground – that’s all.
“We had plans that we could fight [с Ганом]the coach continued. – Although Sasha did not lose in the strike, but if we had prompted, insisted, or he himself had decided to fight, then he would have ended that fight in his favor. Yaya is sure that Sasha on the ground is much better than Cyril. We had to fight, and we would have 100% won. But the fight was held in the rack and lost. But it’s okay. Who knows what’s next. By the way, we never had a rematch. Maybe that’s what will happen [реванш с Ганом]”.
Volkov will fight next on March 19 at UFC Fight Nights in London against Englishman Tom Aspinall.
