Ciryl Gane has a vested interest in the UFC keeping Francis Ngannou around.
“Bon Gamin” lost a unanimous decision to Ngannou in the heavyweight championship unification main event of UFC 270 on Saturday at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., which cost him his interim title and his undefeated record. Pre-fight chat was dominated by Ngannou’s contract uncertainty. Gane stated that he hopes that his French counterpart stays with UFC to get another chance at him.
” “If he leaves that way, I don’t want it,” Gane stated at the post-fight press conference. “I want my rematch. I want to do this fight a second time. This fight is my dream, and I would like to see this rematch .”
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Saturday’s headliner was unexpected. Ngannou won the fight by using his wrestling skills to defeat his former sparring partner. Gane said that Ngannou’s wrestling didn’t surprise him, though it wasn’t so much the technique behind the takedowns as it was the power that Gane struggled to deal with.
He also dismissed the suggestion that any pre-fight drama — including Ngannou claiming that he accidentally knocked Gane out in training once — had any effect on his performance.
“No, I was really focused on my mission,” Gane said. “All the stories around this fight were just stories and it was not a burden for me, I was just focused on my target. If we have a rematch, I’m gonna be focused, but I’m gonna improve on my weaknesses.”
“This is reality,” he added. “This is hurting me a lot, but it’s the truth and I hope tomorrow I’m gonna improve. To be better .”
, I will do more.
Asked when Gane would be available to fight again, Gane laughed, “tomorrow .”
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He is keen to have a Ngannou rematch and he doesn’t mind how Saturday was judged.
“At fight’s end, I already knew,” Gane stated. “I’m really intelligent, I’m really aware, and I knew he won this fight.”
