The outcome of the Alexander Volkov vs Ciryl Gane clash at UFC 310, divided opinion. Gane secured a controversial split decision win as the crowd inside the T-Mobile Arena started booing as soon as the verdict was announced. Even Dana White was left baffled by the result and apologized to Volkov afterward. Apart from the chatter around Gane’s win, another thing caught the attention of the MMA world.

Volkov was on a four-fight winning streak heading into the Gane fight. A win would have likely put him in contention for the heavyweight title, but Gane is now 2-0 against the Russian, having beaten him in June 2021. The disappointment of the loss will linger for Volkov, but his looks at UFC 310 became the talking point for Conor McGregor and others.

As he made his way to the Octagon, Volkov donned a completely new look for his fight. The 6ft 7in Russian had his blonde hair in cornrows, which surprised the on-lookers. Daniel Cormier and Joe Rogan referred to him as the, ‘7 feet Tall Paddy Pimblett’ and Conor also got in on the fun with a post on social media.

McGregor also took to X to rechristen Volkov as, “Paddy Pimblokov” in a since-deleted tweet. Pimblett, known for his luscious locks, has been tying his hair up in recent fights and it looks like Volkov took some inspiration.

The rematch between Gane and Alexander Volkov was expected to deliver an explosive showdown, but it ended up igniting controversy instead. In the first round, Gane almost secured the victory with a tight guillotine choke attempt off a Volkov takedown. The Russian survived and then came back strongly in the second round.

Volkov struck Gane with a spinning back fist, which was easily the best shot of the entire fight from either man. In the third round as well, Volkov held the upper hand for the most part. But when it came to the result, two judges saw it 29-28 for Gane, giving the Frenchman the first and second rounds, while one judge scored 29-28 for Volkov.

As the result was announced, Gane surprisingly left the Octagon prior to his post-fight interview, before returning moments later. On the other hand, Volkov stood puzzled, struggling to process the decision. Dana White made his way to Volkov—not to celebrate, but to offer words of consolation to the Russian heavyweight. In the post-event presser, White revealed what he told Volkov.

“So here’s what happened after that fight, you heard the boo’s, I went over to Volkov, I apologised to him, I thought he won the fight.

“And then the head of the commission came over and said, ‘Listen, we feel like that second round was really close and could’ve gone either way both guys got rocked’, I can’t remember which (fighter) they thought had the worst of it in the second round but, you know,” White said. Later, Volkov also expressed his displeasure at the outcome and even called for one of the judges to be let go by UFC.

Volkov left enraged over UFC 310 decision

Speaking to the media, Volkov didn’t hold back his thoughts on the outcome of the fight. “Hello everyone, I just want to say first that it was a b***** decision, for sure. I don’t know what we’re going to do with the decision, I am absolutely sure that I won the fight,” he said.

However, he wasn’t done and referring to judge Adalaide Byrd said, “This is the same judge who judges boxing and MMA? I don’t understand, this state is the fighting capital of the world, I don’t know what to say… How is it possible that the same person can judge two different kinds of sports? I don’t understand how a person that is not professionally learned in this sport, can either not be requalified to judge this sport, or just not be f***** fired.”

In the past, Bryd, a boxing judge, was embroiled in controversy after receiving backlash for scoring Canelo Alvarez vs GGG, 118-110 for the Mexican. He stepped away from the sport after the incident. Though Volkov has said he will appeal the decision with the NSAC, there is little hope the outcome will be changed. For now, Gane has two consecutive wins to his name, while Volkov is left frustrated on a night he could have secured a title fight.