Ciryl Gane barely has been training MMA for two years, yet he finds himself perhaps a couple of fights away from a UFC title shot.
Gane (6-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC), who is only six fights into his professional MMA career, faces Shamil Abdurakhimov on Sept. 19 at UFC 253 in a tough test that should gauge how he stacks up against the heavyweight elite.
Since joining the UFC roster in August 2019, Gane has picked up three wins in just over fourth months and already finds himself ranked in the top 15. He was initially scheduled to face Abdurakhimov in April, but he was forced out due to pneumothorax – a collapsed lung, which set him back a couple of months.
It’s not the first time Gane has suffered a collapsed lung, but after undergoing surgery, he thinks it should no longer be an issue.
“It’s the second time,” Gane told MMA Junkie. “That’s why the second time, the doctor did something for real. A real surgery … It gave me a germ infection that kept me three weeks in the hospital. It was a bad time. I lost 10 kilos. It was a really bad time, but now I’m good.”
Gane was then matched up with Sergei Pavlovich in August, but this time his opponent had to drop out, and Gane was rebooked against Abdurakhimov in September.
The gritty Abdurakhimov has won three of his past four with a variety of finishes. Gane thinks while Abdurakhimov might not look like a threat, he knows he’s in for a battle.
“I think it’s gonna be a good fight,” Gane said. “I think it’s gonna be a fight with a real fight IQ. When you look at Shamil’s fights, he doesn’t look wonderful (technique) and dangerous, and I think this guy is really dangerous because you can see it. You just feel it when you’re with this guy in the cage, so I think it’s gonna be a good fight.”
Should he beat Abdurakhimov, Gane will emerge as a fresh face in the division, with big names, former champions and future Hall of Famers as possible next opponents. Considering Gane took his first pro fight having only been training for six months, things have moved pretty fast for “Bon Gamin,” but it doesn’t come as too much of a surprise.
His head coach, Fernand Lopez, who talked him into MMA, saw all these possibilities for him from the start.
“I’m not in a rush, but I think my career was fast,” Gane said. “I just started MMA a little over two years ago and in September, I’m gonna fight against Shamil, No. 10 in the UFC, which is the biggest league in the world, so I cross my fingers.”
He continued, “I think I have the skill to one day fight for the belt. I believe in myself for real. I believe in myself, and Fernand Lopez, my coach and my manager, told me – the first real conversation I had with Fernand Lopez, he told me ‘MMA, it’s a good plan for you. I think maybe in two or three years, you’re going to fight for the belt.’ So I trust him.”
Ciryl Gane 'not in a rush' but confident he has skills to make UFC title run
