The first defeat of his career, against the Cameroonian, "stings" him. But the French fighter prefers to look on the bright side.
Ciryl Gane suffered the first loss of his career to Francis Ngannou in Los Angeles in January. Even though he considers that he "didn't come close to winning", this setback doesn't sit well with him. "I realize that this defeat stings me. It's proof that I'm a real competitor," he said in an interview on L'Equipe TV.
But the important thing was elsewhere. The number one ranked UFC heavyweight in the world learned a lot from his misadventure against the world champion of the category.
Beyond the result, this defeat brought me," says Gane. First of all, the experience. The fact that I lived through this event, it was very intense in terms of emotions, especially against Francis. It was quite specific. All the emotional charge, the media attention, that's experience. It's not insignificant to be put to the test in that way."
"There were exchanges with Francis, he was the most touched"
Could his face-to-face with the Cameroonian have been a walk in the park? Ciryl Gane's answer: "If we had put forward the fact that I don't get caught in wrestling and that we stay on the physiognomy of the first two rounds, it would have looked like an easy fight."
Going back to the exchanges of words with his former sparring partner, notably before the fight, the Frenchman believes, bursting into laughter, that it was the Cameroonian "who was the most affected". He continued: "Afterwards, there was all this pressure, this first face-to-face, which added to it, etc. There was a lot of emotion. There were a lot of emotions..., that's part of the learning process."
Il reste l'homme le plus redoutable de la planète! 🌍
Résultat #UFC270 : @Francis_Ngannou (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) l'emporte sur Ciryl Gane par Décision unanime pic.twitter.com/tSFQKHdTTs
— UFC Québec (@UFCQuebec) January 23, 2022
The UFC's number one fighter in the world is no doubt hoping that Francis Ngannou's experience will help him bounce back next September in Paris. In front of his home crowd, the 32-year-old fighter with ten wins in eleven fights (1 loss), will face Australian Tai Tuivasa (29, 14 wins, 3 losses).
