The UFC’s former interim heavyweight champion, Ciryl Gane, won a wild war with Tai Tuivasa at UFC Paris that resulted in Gane scoring a wicked third round knockout.
In the second round of that fight, Tuivasa uncorked a massive right hand that dropped Gane for the first time in his career. Although Gane was able to recover and dish out his own damage to get the dub, he couldn’t help but open up in an interview with Ariel Helwani about his first time experiencing that sort of power.
As transcribed by MMAFighting.com Gane had this to say, “The feeling was just, because I didn’t see anything, talking about his punch, that’s why I fell down, and I think the ground woke me up,”
“When my ass touched the ground I said, ‘Oh, what happening?’ And I understood and reacted directly, that he caught me so I go ahead on his legs to grab and stand up, and after that, I took a rest — maybe three, four seconds — and moved away and it was OK, but he touched me for real.”
“He’s really dangerous. You see sometimes you have some guys, you can’t explain, but he has something in his hands, just like that. When the guy touches you, you go down. That’s it. Incredible.”
Keep in mind that Gane has shared an Octagon with some of the hardest hitters in the UFC today, like Francis Ngannou and Derrick Lewis, but Tuivasa was the first one that has been able to land his power punches in a meaningful way.
Gane continued, “No [I’ve never felt power like that before]. When you look at the punch, it really doesn’t look hard, powerful. But when he touches you, he touches you for real. That’s why I say, I don’t know exactly. I can’t explain, but he has something in his hands and this is the first time I’ve felt this.”
The victory over the UFC’s #3 ranked heavyweight has put a bit of a gap between him and the field, with his likely next opponent being a rematch with the current undisputed champion, Francis Ngannou.
About the author
