When Ciryl Gane was introduced to the UFC just a few months ago the entire MMA community was excited about this really big, really fit newcomer and it seemed as though we were going to have a new dominator of the heavyweight division which in my opinion, is severely lacking at the moment.
src
Looking like a bodybuilder doesn't mean shit in MMA
He fought a bunch of nobodies in his first 2 UFC fights and then faced old man Dos Santos in December of 2020 and KO'd him in the 2nd round. I think you could make the argument that Dos Santos is also a "nobody" despite being a champion in the past... but those days are long behind him as he hasn't has his hand raised in victory since beating Derick Lewis in March of 2019.
src
the fight actually finished with an elbow and then ground and pound
Since then, Gane has seen a major push and I can't help but feel as though there are some politics behind this because Dana White and the UFC brass would like to see more Europeans in the top contender slots but as far as heavyweights are concerned, I haven't seen a more boring fighter than Gane in quite some time.
His strategy seems to be one of "peppering" lead legs with kicks and occasionally throwing a jab or two while he waits and waits for his moment to swarm - but that time never comes. In this past week's main event Gane faced off against Alexander Volkov and his stupid full-back tattoo and basically nothing happened for 5 rounds.
The boring nature of this 5-round fight can't be blamed entirely on Gane because both men fought almost the entire fight at distance and neither went for takedowns or any sort of clinch strikes. They both seemed to be content to stand near the center of the octagon and throw mostly missed strikes and leg kicks over and over again. Gane would eventually be the decision winner but honestly, I had stopped watching by round three because looking out the window at traffic was more exciting.
Urgh! Just look at that. A single... ONE strike that wasn't from distance. If you had the misfortune of staying up late in order to see this boring spectacle you would have been treated to both guys being afraid to close this distance as most of their strikes were either weak leg kicks, completely blocked side kicks, or punches being thrown from such a distance that there was very little chance that they were going to do very much damage. The highlight of the entire thing was towards then end when Gane eye-poked Volkov in the 5th round as he made his only attempt at close quarters striking in the entire match.
This makes 2 fights in a row for "Bon Gamin" Gane that were excruciatingly boring to watch and I wonder if Dana White is going to keep pushing for him to head towards the title. I think if we are going to see any excitement out of this guy he is going to have to face lessor opponents and in my opinion he does not belong in the top 3 and if it weren't for the fact that the top 10 of UFC wasn't so filled with "has beens" and nobodies I don't think he would be.
It was clear from the beginning that White really wanted Gane to be a showstopper because much like Vince McMahon from WWE, White has a penchant for ripped guys in the game (or so it would appear.) His continued appearance in main events has to be some sort of marketing strategy aimed towards France and other countries in Western Europe because it certainly isn't for the entertainment of the audience.
It's meant to be a highlight reel, but since there weren't really any highlights, they basically show the entire fight
Ngannou is likely safe for now but I actually wish that UFC would go ahead and put Gane into a fight with the champ so Gane could get swarmed and get the crap kicked out of him so this really odd and boring push for the Frenchman could go ahead and end. His tactics of evasion and striking from distance almost exclusively make for a very boring fight and I have zero enthusiasm towards him when he is on the card. Unfortunately, Gane failing to put on a show only increases the chance that Jones is going to enter at a rank higher than he deserves.
Did you watch the fight? Did you manage to not fall asleep? Were you as disappointed as I was? Let's hear it in the comments!