Former UFC interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane secured a victory with a second-round TKO against Serghei Spivac at UFC Paris, following a disappointing defeat against Jon Jones, placing Gane back in the mix for the heavyweight title chase.
Ciryl Gane managed to secure a vital victory at UFC Paris after experiencing the worst loss of his MMA career. Displaying that a past defeat could fuel him, the former UFC interim heavyweight champion ruthlessly triumphed over Serghei Spivac in the main event on Saturday, securing a second-round TKO. This match provided Gane with an ideal platform to prove his mettle; a match against a wrestler where he kept to his game plan and emerged victoriously. A relieved Gane exclaimed on the UFC post-fight show, “Everything was perfect. I’m here against a wrestler and capable of winning.”
The 33-year-old fighter entered the bout facing the after-effects of his previous loss to Jon Jones for the vacant heavyweight title at UFC 285 in March. This defeat was the most disappointing one to date, tarnishing Gane’s ability to defend takedowns against high-level heavyweight grapplers. Having suffered a quick submission and a prior out-wrestling by one-legged Francis Ngannou in 2022, Gane’s record had previously dropped to 0-2 shots at the undisputed UFC belt.
Despite the past challenges, Gane exhibited considerable improvement during his face-off against Spivac. Successfully defending the Moldovan’s only takedown attempt and outstriking him significantly, Gane clinched the second-largest strike differential in UFC heavyweight history, 109 to 11. In the aftermath of his recovery, Gane dismissed the notion of wronging his doubters and emphasized focusing on learning from his past mistakes and improving. As Gane stated after the Spivac fight, “I spent a little bit of energy…it was not really important…nah, just fix it.”
Gane now finds himself in the mix of the heavyweight title chase alongside Jones and two-time champion Stipe Miocic. With challengers such as English heavyweight Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich on the horizon, it is safe to say that the road to reclaiming the belt will be an exciting one for Gane. Rather nonchalantly during the post-match conference, Gane stated, “This is a new era for the heavyweight division… I proved it…I want to go back to the belt, for sure.”