Ciryl Gane made it look easy against Sergey Spivak in the main event of UFC Fight Night 226 tonight in Paris, outclassing him on the feet in the early stages of the bout before turning up the heat in the second round to deliver a TKO finish.
Round One:
The heavyweight main event is underway in Paris!
They circle in the center of the Octagon to start. Light inside leg kick from Gane. Front kick to the body attempted by both men, though not with full commitment.
Leg kick for Gane. Spivak looks for a couple of punches. Another leg kick by Gane. He lands that again. Now a solid body punch from the Frenchman.
Spivak reaches for a takedown, but that was a bit telegraphed and Gane backs off to safety.
Leg kick for Gane. Spivak fires off a couple of nice punches down the pipe. Spivak commits more fully to a takedown this time and gets close to landing it, but Gane does well to sprawl on that and soon gets the action back to the feet.
Both men touch the other with a jab and then Gane lands a harder punch. Another jab for Gane. He lands to the body now.
Jab for Gane. There might have been an eyepoke on Spivak there, but he doesn’t make a big deal out of it and the ref didn’t spot it.
Spivak with a couple of punches. Gane rips nicely to the body. Leg kick for Gane, but not committing much power behind these strikes.
Jabs from Gane and then a head kick attempt that’s blocked. Kick from Spivak. Double-jab from Gane and one to the body.
Round Two:
Leg kicks for Gane. Spivak charges forward with a flurry of punches, but Gane smoothly moves away. Again Spivak tries to flurry, but doesn’t find the mark. Gane is far quicker and more precise with his own offense.
Spivak with a left hook. Gane with a knee to the body. Gane with rapid-fire short jabs and then a power hook on the same side.
Another jab lands for Gane. Spivak having a hard time with Gane’s fast movement. Hard punch to the body from Gane and presses forward more aggressively afterwards thinking Spivak may be hurt. Spivak ok for now though.
Spivak starting to be backed up to the cage now. Gane with a body kick. Gane landing big punches now and Spivak is wilting, but not going down yet.
Gane resets for a moment, then comes back with a big knee to the body. Gane with power hooks as Spivak covers up. Gane batters down some hammerfists for good measure and though Spivak remains standing the ref has seen enough and steps in to hand Gane a TKO victory at 3.44mins of the second round.
