I have never been a fan of Ciryl Gane outside of the fact that he was instrumental in getting France into the MMA game. Not many people know this, but MMA as a sanctioned sport was banned in France until just a few years ago. They needed a star and they thought they had one in Ciryl Gane. What they actually ended up with is a beefcake who looks to be in phenomenal shape, and actually is in Phenomenal shape, but unfortunately is quite a boring fighter.
Just like everyone else I was excited when Gane entered the scene but then I actually watched a couple of his fights and man oh man, is that dude slow like slug and basically refuses to engage. There are quite a few fighters out there that rely on the counter-strike for a win and while this strategy does work for a lot of them, it doesn't make it at all exciting for the fans at home and in attendance. Unless UFC messes with the audio - and they frequently do - Gane fights bring about boos from the crowd on a regular basis.
Now before people come after me and talk about how he has some KO's and TKO's on his record including his most recent 2nd round TKO against Spivac you gotta realize a couple of things here. For one, Gane's superior athleticism should have resulted in a much quicker finish than that and I think the only reason why it happened is because Spivac was actually going for it and simply got caught. If Gane was to face someone that fights the same way that he does, we would have a 15-25 minute dancing contest where nobody is willing to actually throw any punches.
I suppose I can't really fault Gane for his strategy: He is quite tall and uses this to his advantage by taking long kicks and punches from a distance that is too far for his opponent to close the distance especially when you consider how heavy these fellas are. Gane is boring and that is just a fact. This is a shared belief in the MMA community and the UFC agrees as well which is evidenced by the fact that their "next big thing" was relegated to f**king Fight Night events shortly after their major push to get him to the top.
All the talk right now is how Tom Aspinall is gunning for the "real" belt and how Jon Jones appears to basically refuse to participate in the UFC at all. Jones is technically the champion but I don't know if that guy is holding out for more money or just doesn't really want to be in the UFC but for whatever reason, he is not really interested in getting another fight in and in the meantime the heavyweight division is kind of stalled.
Gane was kind of dropped from the big picture after losing to Jon Jones so decisively in the first round despite Gane's attempts to once again, stay at distance. Jones is a different kind of animal and it really doesn't seem to matter what your gameplan is, he has an answer (and an eye poke or two) that is going to counter it.
The enthusiasm for Gane fights disappeared overnight after that and recently interim champion Tom Aspinall has been gunning for an opponent. UFC apparently wanted Tom to fight Ciryl, but Gane's team took ages to even respond and then when they did, word on the street has it that Ciryl is attempting to become the French Dwayne Johnson rather than continue to fight. He is starring in an upcoming film called "Den of Thieves 2: Pantera" that is currently in production and while I was unaware of this before investigating, he has already been in a couple of other films, both of which flopped and one of them has Mike Tyson in it as well.
Aspinall was polite about Gane turning the fight down at upcoming UFC 304, but at the same time he spilled the beans about how UFC didn't really want him to face Curtis Blaydes, which is who he is not slated to be up against.
There are some people out there bad-mouthing Gane about this decision but I am going to be a neutral voice of reason here and go ahead and say that I think this is actually the correct choice for Ciryl Gane. For one thing, if he gets another couple of losses under his belt the idea of him being a super tough guy is going to disappear. Also with films and TV, you definitely need to strike while the iron is hot. Gane's language limitations is going to hold him back but still, since he is huge and also recognized by a lot of people, he can probably demand a pretty decent salary going into films instead of the octagon.
Just have a look at these UFC payouts that he has had over time. This is over the course of 4 years of earnings. Of course he got paid an additional $500,000 for the Jon Jones fight but let's be honest here, that was because he was facing Jon Jones NOT because he is Ciryl Gane.
So I am not going to do a complete financial analysis of this but a quick estimate puts his earnings at $1.2 million or so. Now lets assume that he has to pay pretty hefty taxes of around 30% or so and that brings him to around $840,000. Divide that by 4 and you get $210,000 a year. Now once we factor in how expensive it can be to keep a team of trainers around you and the fact that many of the top training teams take a percentage of all wins, may of them pre-tax and we can safely assume that Gane is pulling down around $150,000 - $180,000 a year, probably less than that. There are a few fights missing from this list that paid him more later, but they were all under $500,000 a fight and lately, his payouts have been going way down since he apparently has been relegated to the sidelines.
Whatever the case it, getting paid less than $200,000 a year while you are risking your physical future every single day and you have to at least suggest that it isn't worth it.
UFC catches a lot of well-deserved flack for not paying the fighters very well but this is a case and point: Gane is one of the most recognized names in MMA worldwide and if you know a upper-middle-management person at an accounting firm or insurance company, they probably make more money than that. He is also putting his long-term health at great risk by being involved in the sport at all. So ask yourself: Is it worth it?
In films, let's presume he is run of the mill average. Well he is likely going to make at least $150,000 and if for whatever reason the world or even just France really takes a liking to him, a lot more than that. Then there is also many more endorsement deals that could happen as well. The chances of him suffering a career-ending injury on a film or TV set is slim to none.
So while a lot of people in the fighting world are calling him a little bitch for shying away from fights... honestly, it just makes sense to do that. I wont miss him and honestly, this is the best move for him.