MMA: Ciryl Gane, simplicity and Olympian calm
French heavyweight MMA champion Ciryl Gane poses during a photo shoot in Paris on September 14, 2021. GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT AFP
Text by: Farid Achache Follow
3 mins
Ciryl Gane can go down in MMA history on Saturday, January 22, in Anaheim, California, against Francis Ngannou, for the supreme heavyweight title of the UFC.
Enough to become the first undisputed French champion of the largest MMA organization.
Advertising
Read more
“
As always, it will stop in two rounds with a knockout.
That's always been my prediction.
The first round, I try to seek.
And if the opportunity does not arise in the first round, I engage in the second round with more pressure,
”
warns Francis Ngannou
in an interview with RFI.
What to panic the placid Ciryl Gane?
Not really.
The fight is scheduled for five five-minute rounds in UFC, the flourishing major league of MMA.
A kid who didn't like fighting!
Ciryl Gane, interim champion, coached by Fernand Lopez, former mentor of Cameroonian Francis Ngannou knows that this fight will be the most important of his career. After having exhausted the charms of muay-thai, he had decided to make the transition to MMA. The "Good Kid", his nickname as a fighter, with his impressive physique (1.95m, 115kg), arrived in MMA quite by chance, in search of sparring and out of curiosity.
“
I have not regretted my choice.
In MMA, the social ladder is more important.
It was a winning bet, because in barely a year, I signed with the UFC
”, welcomed
Ciryl Gane
in October 2019 for RFI.
“
I love starting over, learning new things.
It's great to discover a new sport, there was a form of weariness with boxing,
” he said.
At the time, the MMA cage was not yet authorized on French territory.
Ciryl Gane, 31, (10 wins - 0 losses in MMA, 8 - 0 UFC) faces an overpowered puncher, who hits very hard to hurt.
Surprising for a "nice" kid according to his family, who didn't like fighting and played football and basketball.
Even if the paternal grandfather practiced boxing.
Not very well known to the general public, the man does not see himself as the standard bearer of French MMA.
"
You can hardly write a better script than that,
" UFC franchise boss Dana White
told
La Sueur .
You have two guys who come from the same gym, who trained together and who don't like each other anymore.
There's all this animosity between them
.
»
Ciryl Gane, who started MMA at 24, has no intention of launching into invective.
“
My personality means that I would not appear credible by doing trash talking
, he explains to
20 Minutes
.
I could do it but it doesn't amuse me more than that.
»
Phlegm and humility
It is true that when you come across "Bon Gamin", you are surprised by his phlegm and his humility.
“
He doesn't have an inner rage to motivate him.
He just likes the challenge
, ”testifies his brother in the columns of
L’Équipe
.
Ciryl Gane is one of those who like to push back the walls of adversity, without shouting it from the rooftops.
“
Work with my strengths and make sure that I cancel those of the opponent a little.
It represents exactly my fighting style
, ”says Ciryl Gane who compares herself to PSG before facing Real Madrid, lucid about her abilities.
On August 8, 2021, in Houston (Texas), Ciryl Gane had achieved a historic performance by becoming the first French champion of the UFC, in the heavyweight category, by giving a lesson to the American Derrick Lewis (victory by K.- O. technique on the 3rd round).
“
Cyril Gane is an MMA prodigy.
His rise in this sport is historic
, ”says Fernand Lopez about this one who is from La Roche-sur-Yon, where his parents, Romain and Maryse, still reside.
“
My son has always been simple.
Glory, he doesn't care about it.
He follows the movement, and he is happy to see his parents happy, too
, ”says his father to the
Journal du Pays Yonnais
.
What a good kid!
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
mma
France