UFC Paris Preview
The UFC will be invading the Accor Arena in Paris, France on Saturday, September 2 for UFC on ESPN+ 84. The main event will be in the heavyweight division between former interim champion and French Fighter Ciryl Gane vs. #7 Sergey Spivac.
The UFC debuted in France last September with Gane being the headliner on that night as well. What the event produced was a back-and-forth battle between he and Tai Tuivasa for one of the best fights of 2022. His third round KO of Tuivasa earned him a title shot in March against all-time great Jon Jones, but Gane was defeated by first round submission.
The French fighter explained that he took this fight with Spivac to spark another run at the heavyweight belt. “The better way for me, no, it’s not this way,” Gane said. “The better way for me is to do exactly what we did the last years – to put a big message this Saturday, and the message is: ‘I’m still here, I want to go back to the belt.’ This is the better way, shorter way to go to the belt.”
Gane explained what will be different about this title run. “All of my career, I was in a rush,” Gane said. “I started MMA in 2018 and I did my first fight just after six months. Since this fight, I was already in a rush until today. So, yes, I want to take my time now. I want to take my time at the gym,
“But I’m going to find some time without all of the things you have around the training and the gym. So, I don’t need to take my time in between two fights, I need more time. No, it’s about that. I need to manage my schedule without all the things you have around the fight, and like that we’re going to have time.”
The 33-year-old faced harsh criticism over his performance against Jones, but the former interim champion believes he will prove to the world that it was just a bad moment. "We were confident, comfortable with the situation," Gane said. "I was really happy to be there and fight, and then boom...it was a bad moment. It was a really bad moment...then we went back to the gym and focused on my future. But before that, we had the social media...and I understand people were really disappointed. The people expected a big war, maybe a surprise by me, and then it wasn't what the people expected. When they're disappointed, its really bad. People forgot really quickly and it's not easy but I'm strong. I had a good foundation, a good team and good family, and in real life if you walk in the street, you already have a good message from the people."
Aside from Tuivasa, Gane has key victories over Derrick Lewis, Alexander Volkov, Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Junior Dos Santos. Jones exposed holes in his grappling which was much of the talk leading up to the title fight. Gane will have his hands full on Saturday as Spivac relies heavily on his grappling and is one of the better practitioners in the heavyweight division. A convincing win for Gane will be what he needs to remind the world that he is still a title threat.
Spivac has won three straight fights and most recently defeated Derrick Lewis by first round submission in February. The Moldovan fighter is not driven by any bitterness leading up to this fight. “I can talk only good about my opponents. I respect everyone, and I respect Ciryl, too,” said Spivac.
The 28-year-old actually defended Gane regarding his loss to Jones. “Journalists talk too much, too much sh*t. Who (out of them) can go to fight in the UFC? It’s really hard to go to fight. He (Gane) is first place in the UFC. He has good results in the UFC. These (people) talk sh*t. Ciryl needs to be focused on his life. This is not important for him.”
A win over Gane represents the biggest of Spivac’s career and could lead to quite a few intriguing matchups. He has been open to a Tom Aspinall rematch, a fight he believes he was not at his best. But most importantly, a win for Spivac puts him on a list of young contenders at heavyweight that are serious threat to the belt, which has not happened in some time.
The rest of the main card:
Women’s Flyweight - #3 Manon Fiorot vs. #2 Rose Namajunas
Lightweight - Benoît Saint-Denis vs. Thiago Moisés
Light Heavyweight - #9 Volkan Oezdemir vs. Bogdan Guskov
Featherweight - William Gomis vs. Yanis Ghemmouri
Featherweight - Morgan Charriere vs. Manolo Zecchini
ESPN + Prelims:
Bantamweight - Taylor Lapilus vs. Caolán Loughran
Welterweight - Ange Loosa vs. Rhys McKee
Women’s Bantamweight - Joselyne Edwards vs. Nora Cornolle
Bantamweight - Farid Basharat vs. Kleydson Rodrigues
Catchweight (140 lb) - Zarah Fairn dos Santos vs. Jacqueline Cavalcanti
