Ciryl Gane capped off a historic evening for French blended martial arts by sending his fellow Parisians into raptures on Saturday, knocking out Tai Tuivasa in the main event of the UFC’s first ever journey to the City of Light.
Gane confirmed off his technical skills – nearly unrivalled in the heavyweight division – in the primary spherical, however needed to survive a heavy knockdown from Tuivasa in an enthralling second body to earn a vital win.
It was in the third spherical that Gane broke down the Australian with physique kicks that arrange kicks and punches to the pinnacle of Tuivasa, a flurry of which put away the vacationer to spark ecstasy in the Accor Arena.
The outcome noticed 32-year-old Gane, who has solely been competing in MMA for 4 years, bounce again from the only real defeat of his skilled profession to date – a call loss to former teammate Francis Ngannou in January.
The Frenchman’s defeat by heavyweight champion Ngannou noticed Gane fail to unify the belts, having entered that bout as interim title holder.
No 1 contender Gane moved a step nearer to a different title shot right here, nonetheless, impressing with each his dynamism and coronary heart as he overcame a sport Tuivasa, who’s ranked third in the division and entered UFC Paris on the again of 5 straight KO/TKO wins.
In the co-main event, Robert Whittaker equally bounced again from a title-fight defeat, outpointing Marvin Vettori with a scientific efficiency in the pair’s middleweight showdown.
Former 185lbs champion Whittaker misplaced the gold to Israel Adesanya through knockout in 2019 and was narrowly outpointed by the reigning title holder this February. The Australian was at his greatest on Saturday, although, as he dissected Italian Vettori, who has equally misplaced to Adesanya twice.
Vettori was outpointed by Adesanya on the “Last Stylebender”’s stand up the rankings, and he additionally fell to the Nigerian-born New Zealander in a title bout final yr – once more dropping through determination. Vettori responded nicely to outpoint Paulo Costa final October however couldn’t get previous Whittaker in Paris, exhibiting his typical toughness and ahead stress however unable to seek out a solution for his opponent’s eclectic offence and slick defence.
Gane arrange his end of Tuivasa with head kicks after concentrating on the Australian’s physique
(AFP through Getty Images)
Full outcomes
Main card
Ciryl Gane def. Tai Tuivasa through third-round KO (punches, 4:23)
Robert Whittaker def. Marvin Vettori through unanimous determination (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Nassourdine Imavov def. Jaoqin Buckley through unanimous determination (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Roman Kopylov def. Alessio di Chirico through third-round KO (punches, 1:09)
William Gomis def. Jarno Errens through majority determination (29-28, 29-28, 29-29)
Nathaniel Wood def. Charles Jourdain through unanimous determination (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Robert Whittaker (proper) was a unanimous-decision victor in opposition to Marvin Vettori
(AFP through Getty Images)
Prelims
Abus Magomedov def. Dustin Stoltzfus through first-round TKO (entrance kick, punches; 0:19)
Nasrat Haqparast def. John Makdessi through unanimous determination (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Fares Ziam def. Michal Figlak through unanimous determination (30-27, 30-27, 39-28)
Benoit Saint-Denis def. Gabriel Miranda through second-round TKO (punches, 0:16)
Cristian Quinonez def. Khalid Taha through first-round TKO (punches, 3:15)
Stephanie Egger def. Ailin Perez through second-round submission (rear bare choke, 4:54)
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