Ciryl Gane Seizes Third Title Shot at UFC 321, Reflects on Past Setbacks
ABU DHABI – Ciryl Gane will challenge Tom Aspinall for the interim heavyweight championship at UFC 321, marking his third prospect to claim undisputed heavyweight glory. The bout arrives after a period of reflection for “Bon Gamin,” who has analyzed previous defeats as crucial learning experiences in his rapid ascent within the sport.
Gane’s journey to a third title fight has been marked by both dominant victories and challenging setbacks.His first professional loss came against then-champion Francis Ngannou, a closely contested battle where Ngannou debuted wrestling to secure the win. Fifteen months later,he faced Jon Jones for the vacant heavyweight title at UFC 285,suffering another defeat that Gane described as a “real loss.” A subsequent bounce-back victory over Tai Tuivasa in Paris positioned him for this latest opportunity.
“Every moment is an experience,” Gane stated, reflecting on his UFC career. “I’m not thinking about the result; I’m just thinking about fight week and stuff like that. When you win, when you lose, this helps you to grow up. I’ve got experience on the big day.”
Gane acknowledges his relatively late start to MMA contributed to a period of uninhibited success. “I started really late in MMA and was rising really quickly, and when it’s like that, you don’t have any questions of yourself; you just do your thing, go to training, and you win, you win, you win.” Tho, he emphasizes the value of those losses. “But when you lose… It was different against Francis Ngannou than Jon Jones. Against Francis, it was 50/50; the champion stayed the champion. But with Jon Jones, it was a real loss, and I remember the bad buzz around this fight, and all of this helps you to have a different approach, what you must do [to succeed at this level].”
