Ciryl Gane was completely dominant in his one and only UFC title fight win.
All eyes will soon be on the UFC heavyweight division, as the title gets put on the line for the first time since Jon Jones’ victory over Stipe Miocic almost a year ago.
After being elevated to undisputed status when Jones briefly retired, Tom Aspinall will defend against Gane in the main event of UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi.
‘Bon Gamin’ is looking to reach the throne at the third time of trying, having previously fallen short against both Jones and Francis Ngannou. When he faced the latter, Gane did enter with a UFC belt around his waist, and he earned it in a one-sided beatdown.
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Joe Rogan called Ciryl Gane the ‘best-moving heavyweight’ ever after he battered Derrick Lewis
After Gane’s main event win over Alexander Volkov added a sixth straight UFC win to his perfect 9-0 professional record at the time, the Frenchman was rewarded with a title shot.
Confusion over champion Ngannou’s status and the promotion’s apparent desire to have Derrick Lewis headline in his home state of Texas resulted in Gane battling ‘The Black Beast’ for the interim heavyweight belt at UFC 265 in August 2021.
Lewis has brutal power in his hands and is the all-time leader in knockouts under the UFC banner, but he simply could not get close to Gane in their fight.
‘Bon Gamin’ dominated from start to finish, landing 112 strikes compared with just 16 from his American opponent. Gane knocked out Lewis in round three to bring an end to the lopsided pay-per-view main event.
Joe Rogan was among those extremely impressed by what they saw from Gane, so much so that he even described the Frenchman as the “best-moving heavyweight” of all time.
“Ciryl Gane beat the s— out of him,” Rogan said on an episode of his podcast. “He shut him out. He shut him out. It was a shutout.
“Ciryl Gane, who is 6’5”, 247 pounds, moves like a 170-pounder. It’s crazy. He’s bouncing like ‘Wonderboy’ (Stephen Thompson) the entire fight, bouncing, throwing feints.
“He completely changed the standard of heavyweight striking and I’m not exaggerating,” he continued. “There’s no question he is the best-moving heavyweight I’ve ever seen. Every time Derrick Lewis goes to set up, to move towards him, Ciryl Gane is nowhere to be found…I was severely impressed.”
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Alex Pereira shared a similar sentiment while predicting a tough night for Tom Aspinall at UFC 321
Rogan is far from being the only prominent name impressed by Gane’s agility as a heavyweight. A man who could soon arrive in the division, two-time light heavyweight king Alex Pereira, has also taken notice.
Speaking before his victory over Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 320, Pereira broke down Aspinall vs Gane and predicted a difficult night for the current champion in Abu Dhabi.
“It’s a tough fight,” Pereira said through a translator at media day.
“Tom is a complete fighter, but I do feel like he’s fought a lot of aggressive guys, and I think Gane is a guy who’s gonna do a lot of moving, he’s gonna be a little more cautious, and that moving around a lot might frustrate Tom.
“First, second, third round, maybe Tom can’t find Ciryl Gane,” he continued. “I think it’s gonna be a different fight.”