While many, including Dana White, have been happy to promote the upcoming Gane vs Ngannou heavyweight title unification bout as a grudge match, Ciryl Gane himself has other ideas.
Speaking with Ariel Helwani’s MMA Hour, he discussed his relationship (or lack thereof) with Francis Ngannou. “That’s not my deal.
Gane Dismisses Ngannou Grudge: “I’m Not Jealous”
I just want to do my thing, and I think I’m great at it, and I want to do very well when I fight against Francis. I just want to do that with a good feeling.
I’m not this kind of guy. I’m not jealous. I’m going to fight Francis, and I’m going to fight like I fought against Volkov, Junior dos Santos, Derrick Lewis. He’s another opponent. That’s it for me.”
Reports surrounding Ngannou’s departure from Paris’ MMA Factory, where Gane trains to this day, claim that a rivalry remains between Ngannou and the MMA Factory’s head coach, Fernand Lopez. Lopez claims that Ngannou failed to give him enough credit for taking him in and training him at the very start of his career. Regardless of this grudge, if there is one, Cyril Gane is unperturbed, focusing on getting another win under his belt.
“I’m confident with every guy. I proved it. I’ve done really great since I just started in MMA. And that’s because I’ve got this fight IQ, not just because I’m a good athlete.
Not because I’ve got good skills. No, it’s because I’ve got this fight IQ. When I started in MMA, it was three years ago. But before that, I did three years in muay Thai, and it was my first experience in martial arts.
When I started, I was really young, no experience, and I did very well because I’ve already got this fight IQ. That’s why I think today everything is possible against Francis. I know he’s going to be my hardest matchup, but I think everything is possible. I’m confident.”
Ciryl Gane will go into the Ngannou fight with an undefeated record and ten victories to his name. However, it’s in another area that Gane differs from Ngannou. While Francis Ngannou has been unhappy with his pay from the UFC, Cyril Gane is happy to show the world his pay check.
“For me, it’s not a secret. The people want to know how much I had for the bonus, everybody can know that. So for me, it’s not a secret. I’m not like French people, I don’t want to talk about my money.
That’s OK. I can talk about that.” Do you think Ciryl Gane will take Francis Ngannou’s heavyweight title, or will Ngannou re-unify the heavyweight straps? Let us know in the comments.
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