UFC heavyweight Ciryl Gane wants a shot at the interim title if he can get past Tai Tuivasa at UFC Paris.
On September 3 in Paris, Ciryl Gane will headline the UFC’s first-ever event in France when he goes head to head with Tai Tuivasa. ‘Bam Bam’ earned the right to take on such a huge challenge with a massive knockout win over Derrick Lewis earlier this year, whereas Gane has been viewed as one of the best heavyweight stars in all of mixed martial arts for quite some time now.
Both men are hoping to make a statement, knowing that they’re arguably on the verge of competing for the championship – in the absence of the reigning champion Francis Ngannou, that is.
Gane’s loss to Ngannou at UFC 270 set his title push back ever so slightly but in a recent interview with MMA Junkie, ‘Bon Gamin’ made it clear that he wants to go after the interim strap if he can beat Tuivasa.
“I think if I win against Tuivasa, I think it’s gonna be a fight for the interim title against the winner of the next fight for the interim title,” Gane said. “So this [loss to Ngannou] put me a little bit back, but this put me more challenge, so I’m okay. I’m a competitor, so I like that. That’s okay because some people say but you just lost like that [close fight] with Francis, you must have a revenge for the big belt and I said, ‘No, I’m okay with that.’
“It’s really complicated at the moment with this division. There are a lot of people in the top five and I think for the UFC to manage that it’s a little bit complicated so I can understand the UFC’s plan and I’m okay with that.”
While it hasn’t been confirmed, the expectation is that Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic will fight for the UFC interim heavyweight belt later this year.
Ngannou is still out of
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