Published on : 21/01/2022 – 11:50
Ciryl Gane can go down in MMA history on Saturday, January 22, in Anaheim, California, against Francis Ngannou, for the supreme heavyweight title of the UFC. Enough to become the first undisputed French champion of the largest MMA organization.
« As always, it will stop in two rounds with a knockout. That’s always been my prediction. The first round, I try to seek. And if the opportunity does not arise in the first round, I engage in the second round with more pressure », warns Francis Ngannou in an interview with RFI. What to panic the placid Ciryl Gane? Not really. The fight is scheduled for five five-minute rounds in UFC, the flourishing major league of MMA.
A kid who didn’t like fighting!
Ciryl Gane, interim champion, coached by Fernand Lopez, former mentor of Cameroonian Francis Ngannou knows that this fight will be the most important of his career. After having exhausted the charms of muay-thai, he had decided to make the transition to MMA. The “Good Kid”, his nickname as a fighter, with his impressive physique (1.95m, 115kg), arrived in MMA quite by chance, in search of sparring and out of curiosity.
« I did not regret my choice. In MMA, the social ladder is more important. It was a winning bet, because in just a year I signed with the UFC », congratulated himself Ciryl Gane in October 2019 for RFI. ” I love starting over, learning new things. It’s great to discover a new sport, there was a form of weariness with boxing He said. At the time, the MMA cage was not yet allowed in France. Ciryl Gane, 31, (10 wins – 0 loss in MMA, 8 – 0 UFC) faces an overpowered punch, who strikes very hard to hurt.
Surprising for a “nice” kid according to his family, who didn’t like fighting and played football and basketball. Even if the paternal grandfather practiced boxing. Not very well known to the general public, the man does not see himself as the standard bearer of French MMA.
« You can hardly write a better screenplay than this, said for The sweat UFC franchise boss Dana White. You have two guys who come from the same gym, who trained together and who don’t like each other anymore. There’s all this animosity between them. »
Ciryl Gane, who started MMA at 24, has no intention of launching into invective. ” My personality means that I would not appear credible by doing trash talking, he explains to 20 Minutes. I could do it but it doesn’t amuse me more than that. »
Phlegm and humility
It is true that when you come across “Bon Gamin”, you are surprised by his phlegm and his humility. ” He doesn’t have an inner rage to motivate himself. He just likes the challenge “, Testifies his brother in the columns of The Team. Ciryl Gane is one of those who like to push back the walls of adversity, without shouting it from the rooftops.
« Work with my forces and make sure that I cancel those of the opponent a little. It’s exactly my fighting style “Says Ciryl Gane who compares herself to PSG before facing Real Madrid, lucid about her abilities. On August 8, 2021, in Houston (Texas), Ciryl Gane had achieved a historic performance by becoming the first French champion of the UFC, in the heavyweight category, by giving a lesson to the American Derrick Lewis (victory by K.- O. technique on the 3rd round).
« Cyril Gane is an MMA prodigy. His rise in the sport is historic “, says Fernand Lopez about this one who is from La Roche-sur-Yon, where his parents, Romain and Maryse, still reside.
« My son has always been simple. Glory, he doesn’t care about it. He’s following suit, and he’s happy to see his parents happy, too. “, says his father to the Journal of the Yonnais Country. What a good kid!
