Tag: Serghei Spivac

Ciryl Gane eyes ‘masterclass’ performance, finish over Serghei Spivac at UFC Paris

Ciryl Gane is hoping to recreate last year’s magic in Paris.

PARIS –  [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] is hoping to recreate last year’s magic in Paris.

Gane (11-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) meets [autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag] (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+.

Gane has put on some great performances throughout his career – including an interim title-winning finish of Derrick Lewis. He looks to have another flawless showing against Spivac.

“I just hope this weekend I’m going to do a masterclass, like we say,” Gane told MMA Junkie. “A perfect performance, and I’m going to do my best for that.”

Gane also headlined the UFC’s debut show in Paris, where he slugged it out with knockout artist Tai Tuivasa before getting the finish in Round 3. It was a special moment for “Bon Gamin” in front of his home crowd, but can he top it?

“Top it? It’s going to be hard,” Gane admitted. “The scenario of the last fight unfortunately was really dangerous, but it was perfect. It was like a movie – a bad thing coming, but you come back stronger and you reverse the situation.

“It was really perfect, and we don’t want that for this fight. I just want to finish the fight before the end, and the fans I think are going to be happy about that.”

With numerous ground finishes on Spivac’s resume and Gane coming off a submission loss, Gane expects to be fending off takedowns right off the bat.

“I think the best option for him is to go on the ground,” Gane said. “And I know this is a big option for him for every fight because he has a good level in it. So yeah, 100 percent in the first second of the first round, he’s going to try. He’s going to go for it, for sure.”

Gane is eager to rebound from his quick submission loss to Jon Jones for the vacant heavyweight crown at UFC 285, which he says taught him a valuable lesson.

“I did some mistakes in my fight with Jon Jones,” Gane said. “I’m not (getting) started really early in the game, so that’s why it was not possible to fix this because the fight finished really early. So now, this is my mission to be aware in the first second of the first round.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.

UFC Fight Night 226 breakdown: How will Ciryl Gane rebound vs. Serghei Spivac after Jon Jones debacle?

MMA Junkie fight analyst Dan Tom takes a closer look at the UFC Paris main event between Ciryl Gane and Serghei Spivac.

MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom breaks down the UFC’s top bouts. Today, we look at the co-main event for UFC Fight Night 226.

UFC Fight Night 226 takes place Saturday at Accor Arena in Paris. The event streams on ESPN+.

Tom Aspinall: Serghei Spivac ‘stylistically a bad matchup for Ciryl Gane,’ fight not as one-sided as people think

Heading into UFC Paris, Tom Aspinall believes people are counting out Serghei Spivac too easily.

[autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] believes [autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag] is being counted out too much against [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag].

Spivac (16-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) meets former interim heavyweight champion Gane (11-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 226 main event at Accor Arena in Paris. The event streams on ESPN+.

Gane will look to rebound from his quick submission loss to Jon Jones at UFC 285. Aspinall (13-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC), who will be in attendance for the fight, holds a quick TKO finish over Spivac. But he thinks Spivac’s grappling could pose problems for Gane.

“He does not like another guy on top of him roughing him up,” Aspinall said of Gane on the “Fight Disciples” podcast. “There’s no answer to it. That’s why he does a lot of flicking in and out movements, which, granted, he’s very, very good at. But against someone like Spivac, who’s a front-foot fighter, who’s a strong grappler, you need to get him on the back foot.

“So, I don’t think this fight’s as one-sided as a lot of people are thinking. A lot of people are going out there thinking, ‘Oh yeah, Ciryl Gane’s a lot better than him.’ Granted, he looks a lot better, he’s a better striker, he’s definitely a better mover, his punches are more accurate, he’s probably more of a complete fighter than Spivac is. But stylistically it’s a bad matchup for Ciryl Gane.”

According to BetMGM, Spivac is a +140 underdog, meaning a $100 bet on the Moldovan fighter would win $140 profit. Gane is a -165 favorite, meaning a $165 bet would be needed on “Bon Gamin” to return $100 profit.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.

UFC free fight: Serghei Spivac submits Derrick Lewis with ease

Ahead of his return Saturday at UFC Fight Night 226 in Paris, watch Serghei Spivac make quick work of Derrick Lewis.

[autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag] is coming off arguably the best win of his career.

In February, the Maldovan fighter headlined UFC Fight Night 218 against former UFC title challenger Derrick Lewis. Spivac took Lewis down, controlled him, then locked in an arm-triangle choke for a first-round submission win.

It was a swift and flawless performance by Spivac, and you can watch the video of the full fight above.

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Spivac returns to the octagon Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night 226 at Accor Arena in Paris. Spivac takes on former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane.

Spivac (16-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) currently is on a three-fight winning streak and 6-1 in his past seven fights. His lone defeat during that current stretch came against top contender Ton Aspinall in 2021. Gane (11-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) is coming off a submission loss to Jon Jones in March for the vacant heavyweight title. [lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=420030788]

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.

Serghei Spivac open to Tom Aspinall rematch with win over Ciryl Gane at UFC Paris

Ahead of his second straight UFC main event, Serghei Spivac thinks he could be inching closer to a heavyweight title shot.

PARIS – Ahead of his second straight UFC main event, [autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag] thinks he could be inching closer to a heavyweight title shot.

Spivac (16-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) has a tall order in front of him Saturday when he takes on former interim champ Ciryl Gane (11-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) in front of Gane’s home fans in France. But a win would give him four straight – and he already has his sights set on a possibility for what could be No. 5.

If Spivac beats Gane, he said he’d love another shot at Tom Aspinall, who recently returned from a yearlong injury layoff with a dominant finish of Marcin Tybura in London. Aspinall put Spivac away halfway through the first round nearly two years ago. Spivac hasn’t lost since.

Spivac talked about that and more at Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 226 media day in Paris.

Check out the full interview in the video above. UFC Fight Night 226 takes place Saturday at Accor Arena and is the UFC’s second visit to France. The event streams on ESPN+.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.

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UFC veterans in MMA and kickboxing action Sept. 1-3

Check out which veterans of the UFC are competing in combat sports across the globe this weekend.

This week, the UFC travels to France for UFC FN 226.

The event at Accor Arena in Paris features a heavyweight tilt between former interim champion [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] and [autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag].

Elsewhere, many other combat sports events are taking place that feature a number of familiar names that have competed under the UFC banner.

Check out which veterans of the global MMA leader are competing in MMA and kickboxing this week from Sept. 1-3.

Check out the names and details about their bouts below.

Upcoming event information from Tapology.

UFC Fight Night 226 pre-event facts: Rose Namajunas brings decorated resume to new division

The best facts about UFC Fight Night 226, which features former champ Rose Namajunas moving up to a new weight class.

The UFC travels to France for the second time in promotional history Saturday with UFC Fight Night 226, which takes place at Accor Arena in Paris and streams entirely on ESPN+.

Former interim heavyweight champion and France’s own [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] (11-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) headlines the card on home soil for the second consecutive year. In his first fight since losing to Jon Jones in March, “Bon Gamin” will face the streaking [autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag] (16-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) in a five-round clash. The event also features the return of former strawweight champion [autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag] (11-5 MMA, 9-4 UFC) making her flyweight debut against top contender [autotag]Manon Fiorot[/autotag] (10-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC).

For more on the numbers behind the main event, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts about UFC Fight Night 226.

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Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (June 12-18)

All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by a promotion from June 12-18.

Ciryl Gane vs. Serghei Spivac booked for UFC Fight Night main event in Paris

Ciryl Gane gets his first fight since his defeat to Jones Jones in March.

[autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] is coming home.

The former UFC interim heavyweight champion has been booked against [autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag] to headline a UFC Fight Night event in Paris at Accor Arena on Sept. 2. The news was announced on Thursday by UFC president Dana White.

This bout marks the first fight for Gane (11-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) since his quick submission loss to Jon Jones in March for the vacant UFC heavyweight title. Prior to the loss against Jones, Gane knocked out Tai Tuivasa in Paris last September in a wild Fight of the Night.

On the other side, Spivac (16-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) is looking to capitalize on his current momentum of three consecutive wins in the octagon. In his most recent showing, back in February, Spivac submitted long-time contender Derrick Lewis in the main event of UFC Fight Night 218.

No other bouts are confirmed for the event at this time.

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USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Feb. 7: Johnny Eblen nearing middleweight elite

Bellator middleweight champ Johnny Eblen and UFC heavyweight Serghei Spivac lead the biggest moves in this week’s rankings update.

Bellator middleweight champion [autotag]Johnny Eblen[/autotag] continues his ascent in the division.

In the co-main event of Bellator 290, Eblen recorded his first title defense by defeating Anatoly Tokov. Entering the week at No. 7, Eblen’s performance was worthy of a bump up to the No. 6 spot.

After a week that saw many ranked heavyweights in action such as Bellator champion [autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag], it was [autotag]Serghei Spivac[/autotag] who made the biggest jump towards the top. In the main event of UFC Fight Night 218, Spivac finished former title challenger Derrick Lewis by submission in the first round. Spivac entered the week at No. 14, but settles in at No. 10, while Lewis falls from No. 6 to No. 11.

Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.