Gane, Bigi Boy, DFW reflect on main event

Underground
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Francis Ngannou exploded out of Fernand Lopez' Fight Factory in Paris, France, and, barring alien abduction, will be UFC heavyweight champion someday, maybe someday soon. "The Predator" had an acrimonious split with his former mentor, but Fight Factory produced another monster in the making.

Ciryl Gane entered the UFC with a 3-0 record, and earned four more wins in the Octagon, showing unprecedented diversity in a division typically dominated by heavy hands. "Bon Gamin" earned wins in the Octagon by armlock, leg lock, decision, and elbow. Jairzinho Rozenstruik has a vast kickboxing background, and was a counter-striking specialist. His last seven fights all ended via T/KO, all via punches, and the sole loss in his 12 fights was to Ngannou.

Heading into his fight vs. the #4 ranked Rozenstruik in the main event of UFC Vegas 20 on Saturday night, #7 ranked Gane had an opportunity to establish himself as a Next Big Thing contender. That did not happen; the fight was not fan-friendly, it was fan-estranging.

UFC president Dana White did not attend the post-fight press conference, but shared his thoughts on the contest with Yahoo! Sports Kevin Iole.

“Everybody’s talking about Ciryl being this big contender, but look at what Francis Ngannou did to Jairzinho,” wrote White. “This was his coming out party and his chance to show the world who he is. He won, but let’s leave it at that. He won.”

Gane was at the post-fight press conference, and said he got it.

“I can understand that,” said Gane. “He is the boss, and he wants to make money, so you want the guy marketable. The people want the show. They want the big KO. So yes, I don’t finish the fight. I tried, but I don’t do it. I can understand that, but I’m OK."

“I remember that I tried to finish the fight. I didn’t but I tried to finish the fight and yes, we managed the fight very well so yes I’m happy. I think did it well. I managed the fight on the feet. I tried to go down, I go down and I did the takedown. I think I manage well the fight on the feet.”

“I was not really happy but [my head coach] said ‘you did very well, you won five rounds of a fight.’ So I’m happy. I think I proved something. I can go five rounds and I can manage five rounds. I’m really comfortable with five rounds.”

“Oh yes, I think I can talk to the title. I think the people like a man like me. Young, a little experience but I manage it very well. I’m undefeated. I think I’m only one undefeated in the rankings. So yes, I think I’m legit.

“So I want to say to everybody, yes, if for the [title fight] next month, if someone is injured, I’m here. No problem."

Rozenstruik too offered his thoughts post-fight, on his social network.

“Fans, family, and friends, I just fought, and the fight didn’t go my way," he said. "I think it was my worst performance ever, if you ask me, I’m hard to myself. So this is me explaining myself; I think I owe you guys this. I’m going to go back home and work my ass out for my next fight. Don’t know when it’s going to be. Respect to Ciryl, he win the fight, and he’s a potentional fighter. That is what I can say.”

Right now the term "potentional fighter" sums it up. Gane may end up in a title fight, maybe not too long from now. But in his next fight, he needs to show more of that potential.

UG, what did you think of the fight?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ageJtyp0yU

h/t  Mike Bohn and Ken Hathaway for MMAjunkie • Damon Martin for MMA Fighting

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Chimaev reflects on main event

https://twitter.com/KChimaev/status/1365875305915637764

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Gane is an interesting prospect.  He has above average movement and agility for a heavyweight and moves like a LHW.  He just toppled the #7 guy with ease, and given the depth of HW, he’s knocking on the door of a top five opponent and isn’t even ten fights into his pro career.

He looks good right now but I haven’t seen in under any duress or adversity, so that’s a huge unknown.

It was a technical domination.  Maybe not the most fan friendly performance, but he won cleanly and intelligently.  Can’t take it away from him.  The guy has finished his other fights with all sorts of shit, so I don’t get the overreaction from Dana.  Rozenstruik was the one not doing anything or making any adjustments, so I think this fight was more on him.  Not everyone is going to stand on a napkin and throw hammers like Ngannou did.  It was very obvious very early that Rozenstruik didn’t bring shit to the table and literally had one single, solitary path to victory.  Why would Gane purposely give him that?

Perhaps Gane is a bit smarter and wants to save his brain cells.

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Gane put on a clinic and Bigi Boy is a high level striker. He reminded me of a HW Machida. 

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Gane looked good. The media would be shitting on him right now if he had gotten wreckless and got koed by trying to brawl with Jair.

Also, Ngannou and Lewis put on a much worse performance in their fight so Dana can stop with the hate. Not all heavyweight fights can end in highlight reel knockouts.

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He won. I'll leave it at that. Were the fans happy? It doesn't sound like it. Heavyweights are scared of going to sleep. 

I wish sea level Cain was still fighting. 

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WaltJ -

Gane is an interesting prospect.  He has above average movement and agility for a heavyweight and moves like a LHW.  He just toppled the #7 guy with ease, and given the depth of HW, he’s knocking on the door of a top five opponent and isn’t even ten fights into his pro career.

He looks good right now but I haven’t seen in under any duress or adversity, so that’s a huge unknown.

It was a technical domination.  Maybe not the most fan friendly performance, but he won cleanly and intelligently.  Can’t take it away from him.  The guy has finished his other fights with all sorts of shit, so I don’t get the overreaction from Dana.  Rozenstruik was the one not doing anything or making any adjustments, so I think this fight was more on him.  Not everyone is going to stand on a napkin and throw hammers like Ngannou did.  It was very obvious very early that Rozenstruik didn’t bring shit to the table and literally had one single, solitary path to victory.  Why would Gane purposely give him that?

Perhaps Gane is a bit smarter and wants to save his brain cells.

Dead brain cells sell tickets. 

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Unkind Zuffa -
WaltJ -

Gane is an interesting prospect.  He has above average movement and agility for a heavyweight and moves like a LHW.  He just toppled the #7 guy with ease, and given the depth of HW, he’s knocking on the door of a top five opponent and isn’t even ten fights into his pro career.

He looks good right now but I haven’t seen in under any duress or adversity, so that’s a huge unknown.

It was a technical domination.  Maybe not the most fan friendly performance, but he won cleanly and intelligently.  Can’t take it away from him.  The guy has finished his other fights with all sorts of shit, so I don’t get the overreaction from Dana.  Rozenstruik was the one not doing anything or making any adjustments, so I think this fight was more on him.  Not everyone is going to stand on a napkin and throw hammers like Ngannou did.  It was very obvious very early that Rozenstruik didn’t bring shit to the table and literally had one single, solitary path to victory.  Why would Gane purposely give him that?

Perhaps Gane is a bit smarter and wants to save his brain cells.

Dead brain cells sell tickets. 

That’s a pretty unkind thing of you to say.

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Unkind Zuffa - 
WaltJ -

Gane is an interesting prospect.  He has above average movement and agility for a heavyweight and moves like a LHW.  He just toppled the #7 guy with ease, and given the depth of HW, he’s knocking on the door of a top five opponent and isn’t even ten fights into his pro career.

He looks good right now but I haven’t seen in under any duress or adversity, so that’s a huge unknown.

It was a technical domination.  Maybe not the most fan friendly performance, but he won cleanly and intelligently.  Can’t take it away from him.  The guy has finished his other fights with all sorts of shit, so I don’t get the overreaction from Dana.  Rozenstruik was the one not doing anything or making any adjustments, so I think this fight was more on him.  Not everyone is going to stand on a napkin and throw hammers like Ngannou did.  It was very obvious very early that Rozenstruik didn’t bring shit to the table and literally had one single, solitary path to victory.  Why would Gane purposely give him that?

Perhaps Gane is a bit smarter and wants to save his brain cells.

Dead brain cells sell tickets. 

I disagree, else Phil Baroni would be one of the biggest stars ever in MMA.

Gane’s mistake was fighting far too safe. The least pleasing way to win in in MMA is via a decision when you never even once had your opponent in trouble.

Personally, I was very impressed by what Gane did. HW is the hardest weight c1ass to win in such a way, considering the power and margin for error is so small in comparison to other c1asses.

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Ngannou basically lunged in with his chin up high and KOd Rozenstruik with sloppy hooks. He received much praise for this and pleased the “fans”.

Gane completely neutralized Rozenstruik with skill and pretty much ran a clinic on him. He gets shit on for it.

This is exactly why HW MMA is my least favorite weight c1ass.

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Ministry of Truth - Ngannou basically lunged in with his chin up high and KOd Rozenstruik with sloppy hooks. He received much praise for this and pleased the "fans".

Gane completely neutralized Rozenstruik with skill and pretty much ran a clinic on him. He gets shit on for it.

This is exactly why HW MMA is my least favorite weight c1ass.

Ngannou could’ve been knocked out fighting how he did against J.R… but as we know it paid off, but it was reckless and he missed on alot of those punches. If Jardinho circled out instead of going straight back who knows how that fight goes. If he is stuck on counter striking every fight he better get used to a losing.

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Barring alien abduction Francis is going to be HW champ? Ehhh, we'll see.

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WaltJ -

Gane is an interesting prospect.  He has above average movement and agility for a heavyweight and moves like a LHW.  He just toppled the #7 guy with ease, and given the depth of HW, he’s knocking on the door of a top five opponent and isn’t even ten fights into his pro career.

He looks good right now but I haven’t seen in under any duress or adversity, so that’s a huge unknown.

It was a technical domination.  Maybe not the most fan friendly performance, but he won cleanly and intelligently.  Can’t take it away from him.  The guy has finished his other fights with all sorts of shit, so I don’t get the overreaction from Dana.  Rozenstruik was the one not doing anything or making any adjustments, so I think this fight was more on him.  Not everyone is going to stand on a napkin and throw hammers like Ngannou did.  It was very obvious very early that Rozenstruik didn’t bring shit to the table and literally had one single, solitary path to victory.  Why would Gane purposely give him that?

Perhaps Gane is a bit smarter and wants to save his brain cells.

He already beat a top 5. He should now be ranked at #3 Only logical match for him now is Lewis, who should be #2. I see that fight looking about the same as this one. He'll pick him apart from the outside and maybe throw in a late takedown to secure the rounds. 

IMO: 

C Miocic

1 Ngannou

2 Lewis

3 Gane

4 Volkov

5 Rosenstruick

6 Blaydes

Bones is getting the next title fight. Game/Lewis should be a #1 contender match. Although I could ssee them making Gane fight Volkov to neutralize his range. 

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Ministry of Truth -
Unkind Zuffa - 
WaltJ -

Gane is an interesting prospect.  He has above average movement and agility for a heavyweight and moves like a LHW.  He just toppled the #7 guy with ease, and given the depth of HW, he’s knocking on the door of a top five opponent and isn’t even ten fights into his pro career.

He looks good right now but I haven’t seen in under any duress or adversity, so that’s a huge unknown.

It was a technical domination.  Maybe not the most fan friendly performance, but he won cleanly and intelligently.  Can’t take it away from him.  The guy has finished his other fights with all sorts of shit, so I don’t get the overreaction from Dana.  Rozenstruik was the one not doing anything or making any adjustments, so I think this fight was more on him.  Not everyone is going to stand on a napkin and throw hammers like Ngannou did.  It was very obvious very early that Rozenstruik didn’t bring shit to the table and literally had one single, solitary path to victory.  Why would Gane purposely give him that?

Perhaps Gane is a bit smarter and wants to save his brain cells.

Dead brain cells sell tickets. 

I disagree, else Phil Baroni would be one of the biggest stars ever in MMA.

Gane’s mistake was fighting far too safe. The least pleasing way to win in in MMA is via a decision when you never even once had your opponent in trouble.

Personally, I was very impressed by what Gane did. HW is the hardest weight c1ass to win in such a way, considering the power and margin for error is so small in comparison to other c1asses.

I expected a finish. Especially with 2 guys with high finish rates. The expectation grows because they’re HWs. That said, he put on a clinic against a high level kickboxer. HW just gets held to a different standard. Utilizing speed and range is frowned upon, everyone just wants haymakers and brawls. 

DJ uses speed and range and he’s the GOAT. Jon Jones uses speed and range and he’s the GOAT. Cruz uses speed and range and he’s a genius. A HW does it and he gets trashed. 

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Robert Thomas -
Ministry of Truth - Ngannou basically lunged in with his chin up high and KOd Rozenstruik with sloppy hooks. He received much praise for this and pleased the "fans".

Gane completely neutralized Rozenstruik with skill and pretty much ran a clinic on him. He gets shit on for it.

This is exactly why HW MMA is my least favorite weight c1ass.

Ngannou could’ve been knocked out fighting how he did against J.R… but as we know it paid off, but it was reckless and he missed on alot of those punches. If Jardinho circled out instead of going straight back who knows how that fight goes. If he is stuck on counter striking every fight he better get used to a losing.

What’s crazy was how well Rozenstruik avoided all the strikes untill the last one. He was avoiding really well, for like 10 seconds.

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I like his reply that focused on the positive of now having experienced 5 rounds in the UFC. 

I think he beats Lewis easily, he will front kick that gut the entire first round and not make mistakes once Lewis is completely gassed.  UFC will 1000% give him Volkov though, it is their best path to keeping Lewis in the top 5. 

I mean he completely out Biggy Boi, the fight was boring but it is on the losing fighter to make something happen.  His (JR) coaches were furious the entire fight too. 

Gane has extremely high fight IQ and is learning at a fast pace. If he develops calf kicks like everyone is lately doing he could be very problematic to these guys including Jon Jones.

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Great performance ... intelligent gameplan against a dangerous opponent. .... gained a fan here for sure ... looking forward to see him fight again and hoping that he continues to fight intelligently. 

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The Destroyer88 -

Gane looked good. The media would be shitting on him right now if he had gotten wreckless and got koed by trying to brawl with Jair.

Also, Ngannou and Lewis put on a much worse performance in their fight so Dana can stop with the hate. Not all heavyweight fights can end in highlight reel knockouts.

To be fair, Dana slated that fight just as much. Just, it was on a card where there was more than one other decent fight so was easy to forget.

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WaltJ -

Gane is an interesting prospect.  He has above average movement and agility for a heavyweight and moves like a LHW.  He just toppled the #7 guy with ease, and given the depth of HW, he’s knocking on the door of a top five opponent and isn’t even ten fights into his pro career.

He looks good right now but I haven’t seen in under any duress or adversity, so that’s a huge unknown.

It was a technical domination.  Maybe not the most fan friendly performance, but he won cleanly and intelligently.  Can’t take it away from him.  The guy has finished his other fights with all sorts of shit, so I don’t get the overreaction from Dana.  Rozenstruik was the one not doing anything or making any adjustments, so I think this fight was more on him.  Not everyone is going to stand on a napkin and throw hammers like Ngannou did.  It was very obvious very early that Rozenstruik didn’t bring shit to the table and literally had one single, solitary path to victory.  Why would Gane purposely give him that?

Perhaps Gane is a bit smarter and wants to save his brain cells.

Pretty much this. I’d also much rather see Gane as champion than a guy like Ngannou or Jarzinho.