HOUSTON – Before the fight, Ciryl Gane predicted a masterclass – and after the way things played out at UFC 265, he thinks he fulfilled that promise.
Gane (10-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) defeated “The Black Beast,” Derrick Lewis, via third-round TKO in Saturday’s pay-per-view main event. The performance was largely without hiccups, though Gane revealed after the fight he wasn’t fighting at 100 percent.
“It was a (masterclass),” Gane told MMA Junkie. “It was that. He touched me maybe one time (or) two times. He gave me a poke (in my) eyes. My vision was blurring for all of the fight. It was not easy to manage this, but I think it was a masterclass.”
“The feeling was exactly what we expected – exactly what we expected. That’s why he never touched me. He never touched me. Every time, maybe 10 times, it was the right hand. He never touched me 100 percent because we worked on it. Because we expected it. We did (our gameplan) well.”
With the win, Gane became the UFC interim heavyweight champion. The stars have now aligned for him to fight former teammate and current undisputed champion Francis Ngannou at date and location to be determined.
Unwilling to say a bad word about his ex-sparring partner Ngannou (16-3 MMA, 11-2 UFC), Gane expressed a happiness in knowing what his title win meant for his head coach, Fernand Lopez – who previously coached “The Predator,” as well.
Prior to when Ngannou became champion, he split with his longtime coach Lopez to train in the U.S. under Eric Nicksick at Xtreme Couture. Despite the work put in through the years, Lopez couldn’t be directly credited with Ngannou’s March title win. However with Gane’s victory, Lopez gets his first UFC champion.
“I’m really thankful,” Gane said. “I’m really happy. I’m really proud. This is not exactly for me. This is for my coach, Fernand Lopez. Everybody knows the story with Francis. He was really close to having the belt, and unfortunately (Francis) moved to Vegas. This is also for MMA Factory, my gym. This is also for the fans in my country and my family.”
UFC 265 took place Saturday at Toyota Center. The main card aired on ESPN+ pay-per-view after prelims on ESPN/ESPN+.
Despite ‘blurring vision’ at UFC 265, Ciryl Gane happy he made good on masterclass prediction
