Ciryl Gane has won the interim heavyweight title by defeating the black beast, Derrick Lewis. In the post-fight interview of UFC 265, Dana White praised the french fighter after his victory and said he has impressed him a lot.
Fight fans and Derrick has earlier called Ciryl a boring fighter. So, a journalist asks White about Gane’s performance what does he think about that. To which Dana said, “He is a big powerful, badass heavyweight who moves like a middleweight.” Rightly so, Ciryl was moving like a middleweight as he was fighting light on his feet.
“You saw tonight what he was able to do to Derrick Lewis. He completely shut him down. Put on a clinic, looked good doing it. Made it look easy against a guy who can turn the lights off with one punch” He added. Certainly, Gane outplayed Lewis with 98-16 in significant strikes and 112-16 in total strikes.
Another thing that impressed the UFC president was Ciryl’s performance on his first big main event. Dana was skeptical about how Gane would perform. Also, Huston is Derrick’s home. So, White believes “Ciryl could not have shined any more than he did tonight.”
Recently this year France lifted the 15-year-old ban on streaming MMA content. So, a new interim champion coming from France just now is great for UFC’s business. Dana says ” everything is about timing…we worked Hard to do get France done.”
Dana White on Francis Ngannou vs Ciryl Gane:
Dana even decided to give Gane a performance bonus right there at the post-fight conference. So, there is a high chance that Ciryl can be the new favorite fighter of the UFC president.
However, the current Heavyweight UFC champion Francis Ngannou is not happy with the interim belt fight. He feels that he is not getting the respect he deserves. He also mentioned earlier that he has heard nothing from UFC his next fight.
When Dana was asked about the same he responded ” there was nothing to hear, he was no fighting this weekend so what’s there to here.” There might be a possibility that the terms are not as good as it seems between the two. Nonetheless, Dana confirmed the fight between him and Ciryl. He said that he doesn’t know the date when the unification title bout will happen but will try to do it as soon as possible.
Also Read: Can Ciryl Gane Beat Francis Ngannou to Become the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World?