The UFC spent a night in Paris this weekend, when the city hosted a heavyweight clash between top contenders Ciryl Gane and Tai Tuivasa.
With both men possessing incredible knock-out power, Ciryl Gane came into the fight being considered the more technical fighter. However, through two rounds, the fight was pretty even, and Tuivasa showed that he wasn’t just a brawler, but also held the technical skills to stand toe to toe with Gane.
Gane has established himself as a leg locker with the heavyweights, but he showed no interest in going to the ground against the slugger. Instead, he consistently used his lead leg kick to maintain distance and fight Tuivasa from the outside.
When a 2nd round punch landed for Tuivasa, Gane hit the ground and later admitted that the shot actually knocked him out momentarily.
Gane was quick to get back to his feet and box his way out of the situation, then immediately landed a harsh body kick that seemed to take a lot of life out of Tuivasa.
As Gane continued to land front kicks, roundhouses, and teeps to the body, Tuivasa was visibly slowing and the hands were getting lower. Gane then took the opportunity to continue mixing up his shots from body to head.
Late in round 3, Gane landed the finishing combo that took Tuivasa off of his feet and out of the fight.
Gane’s record improves to 11-1 as he remains in the #1-contender position in the UFC Heavyweight division.
// MAIN CARD //
- Ciryl Gane def. Tai Tuivasa via KO
- Robert Whittaker def. Marvin Vettori via Unanimous Decision
- Nassourdine Imavov def. Joaquin Buckley via Unanimous Decision
- Roman Kopylov def. Alessio Di Chirico via KO
- William Gomis def. Jarno Errens via Majority Decision
- Nathaniel Wood def. Charles Jourdain via Unanimous Decisiom
// PRELIMS //
- Abusupiyan Magomedov def. Dustin Stoltzfus via TKO
- Nasrat Haqparast def. John Makdessi via Unanimous Decision
- Fares Ziam def. Michal Figlak via Unanimous Decision
- Benoit Saint Denis def. Gabriel Miranda via TKO
- Cristian Quinonez def. Khalid Taha via TKO
- Stephanie Egger def. Ailin Perez via submission
