Ciryl Gane was close to perfect coming off of a humbling loss.
In his first fight since being submitted by Jon Jones this past March, it was Gane who looked like a world-beater Saturday as he dismantled Serghei Spivac in the main event of UFC Paris in front of an appreciative French crowd.
“Bon Gamin” was rarely threatened by the dangerous grappler, as he showed improved takedown defense and the elite athleticism that has made him a top-ranked heavyweight in just five years as a professional fighter. Despite Spivac’s best efforts to get the fight to the ground, the fleet-footed Gane successfully defended all takedown attempts while blistering Spivac with strikes.
The end came at the 3:44 mark of Round 2 when Gane poured on the pressure with Spivac stuck to the fence, landing hard punches until referee Marc Goddard was forced to step in for the stoppage.
“I’m really happy about that, because that was my mission,” Gane said post-fight. “My last fight was [bad], so today it was my mission to prove I’m still here, so let’s go to the belt now.”
Gane previously held an interim UFC heavyweight title, but fell short in a unification bout against Francis Ngannou at UFC 270 and then later to Jones in a vacant title bout at UFC 285. He is 9-2 in the UFC and with the win, he holds on to his No. 3 spot in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings.
Spivac sees a three-fight win streak come to an end.