Ciryl Gane knows what critics said about him.
In 15 professional matches, gains were only lost twice. Initially, he was defeated by Francis Ngannow in a battle where Gain is controlled on the ground, heading for a five-round decision loss. John Jones then easily defeated Gane before submitting him in just two minutes.
Gaine has been in the second round since Jones’ defeat and some questions remain as he prepares to challenge the heavyweight title at UFC 321 on October 25th in Abu Dhabi while he shows a flash of improvement in his grappling. He is sure that if the fight goes to the ground, he is more than a match with Aspinel.
“Life gets a little weird because there are some bad outcomes. And people think you’ve never worked in your ground game, your grappling, so people in your grappling,” Gaine said in a French translator at a press conference in Paris. “But as someone who came from Thai boxing, trust me. I have a team behind me. My coach, Fernando Lopez, we’ve been working on the ground game.
“These are experts. We know exactly what we’re doing. Sometimes I can’t show it and that’s what I have, but this time I trusted me and I’ve been working.
Aspinall took part in the title fight as the defending champion and although he is known for his fast knockouts, he has some memorable obedience to his name. The British standout was one of three fighters who submitted 60-time veteran Andrei Arlovsky, and when Aspinol met Alexander Volkov in a headline match in March 2022, he submitted Folkov with armbars inside the round.
Gain hopes he knows he’s more prepared than ever to ensure that aspinel is ready for what he brings to the table.
“You know, my last fight came back in December, but for the months of January and February, I was on a bit of rest,” Gaine said. “I got hurt and got away a bit, then recovered. But since March, I’ve been really training. I haven’t trained the PlayStation, went to other events like some other, or seen other events.
Athletic Gain is out of consecutive victories over Sergei Spivak and Folkov. The French hope to face the best version of Aspinall this October, but you can see which versions will appear in Fight Night.
“I think Tom already has the answer,” Gaine said. “He knows I’m another fighter in the Division, but I’ll fight in a different way, but I’m sure I can come up with an answer if Tom is thrown at it.