Ciryl Gane will not let his guard down.
The French competitor takes on former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos in the opening bout of the UFC 256 pay-per-view main card on Saturday night. Dos Santos (21-8 MMA, 15-7 UFC) represents by far the biggest name-value opposition of Gane’s (6-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) young MMA career.
Yet, the Brazilian is on the worst skid of his run in MMA, having been stopped in his last three UFC outings. But despite the three-fight losing streak for the 36-year-old, Gane is by no means taking him lightly.
“Yes, every time people ask about him losing his last fights, but again he’s still a top five (Dos Santos is ranked No. 7),” Gane told reporters on Wednesday at the UFC 256 media day. “So he’s still here and he keeps training and he looks good and he has a good chance.
“He trains hard and he’s going to do his best. And yes, you can expect a big fight. You have good striking, good ground game and good takedowns. It’s a big match up for me.”
Gane was supposed to fight a few other names before Dos Santos, but due to the pandemic and other circumstances, Gane had four fights canceled. Neither of the cancellations were as high profile as Dos Santos. All things considered, Gane is stoked about the end result.
“I’m really happy, I have a big respect,” Gane said. “He has a big career and I only have a few years, so of course I have respect for this guy but, but, but I’m going to do my job, go in there and put on a great show.”
Gane last fought in December 2019, when he outpointed Tanner Boser in Busan, South Korea. The 30-year-old is unbeaten in his MMA run and is considered one of the best prospects in the UFC’s heavyweight division.
Ciryl Gane not taking Junior Dos Santos lightly despite skid: ‘This is a big test for me’