PARIS – [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] is eager to regain his title contention status.
Gane (11-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) will look to rebound from his quick submission loss to Jon Jones when he meets Serghei Spivac (16-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 226 main event at Accor Arena in Paris. The event streams on ESPN+.
“Bon Gamin” finds himself in unfamiliar territory having lost two of his past three. Flying in to challenge the winner of Gane vs. Spivac is Tom Aspinall, but Gane says his goals go beyond Aspinall.
“The better way for me, no, it’s not this way,” Gane said during Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 226 media day. “The better way for me is to do exactly what we did the last years – to put a big message this Saturday, and the message is: ‘I’m still here, I want to go back to the belt.’ This is the better way, shorter way to go to the belt.”
It’s been a fast rise for Gane, who entered the UFC at just 3-0. He climbed his way to the interim heavyweight title, but finds himself having to rebuild. With his success, it was hard for Gane not to capitalize on the opportunity to build his brand, but he says it’s now time to block the outside noise and focus fully on training.
“All of my career, I was in a rush,” Gane said. “I started MMA in 2018 and I did my first fight just after six months. Since this fight, I was already in a rush until today. So, yes, I want to take my time now. I want to take my time at the gym,
“But I’m going to find some time without all of the things you have around the training and the gym. So, I don’t need to take my time in between two fights, I need more time. No, it’s about that. I need to manage my schedule without all the things you have around the fight, and like that we’re going to have time.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.