Cyril Gane Responds To Tom Aspinall’s Call After An Win At UFC Paris
The former UFC interim heavyweight champion swept Serghei Spivac in Saturday’s main event to earn a second-round TKO and emerge victorious in a flawless performance at the Accor Arena in Paris. Everything was perfect. He was a perfect [opponent] for me, Spivac, to show that I am here against a fighter [and capable of winning]. Unfortunately I made some mistakes in my past, but we are here today.
“ My mission was to finish the fight, my mission was to be a dog. But my first mission was not to go down and show that I can defend [takedowns], that I can be smart, that I can stick to my game plan, and I did. We did very well and I am very happy for this performance, seriously. We did it.”
With Jones and two-time champion Stipe Miocic set to clash for the belt on Nov. 11 at UFC 285, Gane now finds himself back in the heavyweight title fight.
Another man in that title fight is English heavyweight Tom Aspinall, who has campaigned to fight the winner of Gane vs. Spivac since late July and sat cageside to watch Gane’s masterclass. However, when he was confronted with Aspinall’s call, the Frenchman demurred.
“ I know he yelled my name, but that’s perfectly normal in this position. He wants to go up [in the ranking]. But I also. You know what I mean? Then I made a mistake, unfortunately it was my first real mistake and people were a bit hard on me, it was a bit painful. But tonight I tried it, with all the pressure I can have, I did very well and I tried it… and I want to get back to the belt, for sure.”
“ This is a new era for the heavyweight division and there is a big movement. We are waiting for the big title fight with two GOATs, maybe they will retire. So for me, the good way is to go back [and see how it all plays out]. My mission tonight was to shine, to show that I’m still here and that I want to get back into the belt. So we’ll see, we’ll see for now.”