Ciryl Gane's coach says they accepted Sergei Pavlovich fight for UFC 300 but Russian turned it down: "Can you let down the movie and come do this?"
Ciryl Gane has not competed since defeating Serghei Spivac via second-round TKO in the main event of UFC Fight Night 226 last September. The No. 2-ranked heavyweight will make his return to the octagon when he faces Alexander Volkov at UFC 308.
While Tom Aspinall accused 'Bon Gamin' of avoiding certain opponents, his coach denied the claims, revealing he accepted a bout against Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 300. Speaking to Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie, Fernand Lopez claimed:
"Where is the proof of that? Who said that? Who said that Ciryl said no to him? Ciryl never said no to him. He couldn’t fight and even when the UFC was asking - I could show you the message - the message was, 'oh, we know that this is the frame of time that we gave you to do the movie, but still we are trying. Can you let down the movie and come do this?' And this is too much."
Lopez continued:
"Ciryl would have gotten sued. He would have gotten sued and go to court and pay tons of money to Netflix to stop that movie from going. The only offer for UFC 300 was Pavlovich and Pavlovich said no."
Check out Fernand Lopez's comments below (20:44):
Lopez noted that UFC matchmakers told him Pavlovich would not be available for UFC 300 in April. The No. 5-ranked heavyweight made his return two months later when he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Volkov at UFC on ABC 6. Gane will now face 'Drago' in his first non-headlining bout in nearly four years. The pair previously clashed at UFC Fight Night 190 in June 2021, with 'Bon Gamin' winning via unanimous decision.
Tom Aspinall accused Ciryl Gane of avoiding certain heavyweights
Tom Aspinall defeated Sergei Pavlovich via first-round knockout to capture the interim heavyweight title at UFC 295 last November. He recently claimed that he only received the opportunity because Ciryl Gane turned it down. Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, he claimed:
"He's dismissed me on multiple occasions and I'm not the first guy that he's dismissed. I'm not the first guy that he's ducked. It's out there for people to see. The reason that I got the Pavlovich fight was because Ciryl didn't want it so he ducked Pavlovich. He then ducked Curtis Blaydes. Curtis Blaydes has been on record saying that."
Check out Tom Aspinall's comments below:
Aspinall will defend his interim heavyweight title when he faces Curtis Blaydes in the co-main event of UFC 304 this weekend. A matchup between him and Gane appears inevitable if both can get through their scheduled opponents.