This past Saturday at UFC 256, heavyweights Ciryl Gane (7-0) and Junior Dos Santos (21-9) kicked off the PPV main card. It was the first fight of 2020 for the French prospect, Gane. He had several cancellations leading to UFC 256.
Gane is being looked at as a future title contender. He’s a former Muay Thai world champion and he just has the looks of a guy who the UFC would love to have break through in the heavyweight division.
During the fight on Saturday, Gane did a really good job of keeping JDS at range with his kicks. Gane would throw powerful leg kicks and kicks to the body that never let the former heavyweight champion get comfortable.
Dos Santos was winging power punches, however, nothing really got close to landing. In the second round of the fight, Gane really started to take over. About halfway through the round, Gane stepped forward with a jab that rocked JDS.
He followed up with a couple of brutal elbows that sent the former heavyweight champion to the mat. The referee called a stop to the action and Gane improved to 4-0 inside the UFC with his biggest win to date.
What’s next after UFC 256
This was the biggest test for Gane and he passed with flying colors. When the new rankings come out later today, I’m expecting to see the Frenchman inside the top ten of the UFC‘s heavyweight division.
So, what should the promotion do with Gane next? I think there is a very logical next opponent for Gane. That opponent would be the UFC‘s eighth ranked heavyweight, Shamil Abdurakhimov (20-5).
The UFC has tried to make this fight twice in 2020. Back in April, Gane had to pull out of the fight then in October, Abdurakhimov had to pull out of the matchup. Maybe the third time will be the charm for the promotion.
Given the way the rankings look, this would be the most logical next fight. I don’t see the need to rush Gane just yet towards the top tier of the heavyweight division. Let him get one more top ten win before rushing him to the UFC‘s top five.