In the Clinch: Gane Has Lots to Prove vs. Spivac, UFC Fight Night 226 – Ciryl Gane’s road back to a UFC heavyweight title shot starts Saturday in his home city of Paris.
We all remember his humbling first-round loss to Jon Jones at UFC 285 in March. Jones used his grappling to disarm Gane and secure the guillotine choke in just over two minutes of work.
The No. 2 Gane (11-2-0), 33, said on Media Day that he learned from the fight and worked to improve his grappling. And while he understands No. 4 Tom Aspinall intentions of attending the fight to send the message that he wants the winner, he is focused on securing his second title fight.
In the wake of his overall success, it’s difficult to remember that Gane’s first pro MMA fight was only five years ago. But now is not the time for introspection.
Serghei Spivac likely has his own plans at UFC Fight Night 226.
“The Polar Bear” (16-3-0), 28, ranked No. 7, is coming off three straight wins after a tough loss to Aspinall. He seems to be content with the UFC setting these guys up so that he can continue knocking them down.
This fight should be a chess game that in part, will come down to the grappling improvements of Gane. Ciryl probably wants to keep the fight standing and take some starch out of Spivac. Then, he can go to the ground and get the submission. Spivac is looking for the quick TKO, but he can submit people too.
It’s a 50-50 fight for me, on paper.
Let’s not forget that No. 1 Sergei Pavlovich (18-1-0), 31, will be watching from afar too.
But Gane will have an entire country in his corner. Let’s see what he can do with that at the Accor Arena.
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Ciryl Gane
Serghei Spivac
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