Ciryl Gane expects to fight Francis Ngannou next if he can beat Junior Dos Santos at UFC 256
UFC heavyweight contender Ciryl Gane expects that a win over Junior Dos Santos at UFC 256 would set him up with a match against top contender Francis Ngannou.
Ciryl Gane, who is 6-0 in his MMA career, is currently the 14th-ranked contender in the heavyweight division, and is looking to break in to the top ten. If he can get past a former champion and a top-10 ranked contender in Dos Santos, Gane will definitely see his standing in the division rise exponentially.
Ciryl Gane is counting on the fact that a win over JDS could ultimately bring him closer to a matchup with number 1-ranked contender Francis Ngannou.
Speaking to Petesy Carroll and Niall McGrath on The Bash MMA, Gane explained that a matchup with Ngannou will be unavoidable if he can beat Junior Dos Santos:
"I think now, the division, for me, if I win against Junior, it’s going to be really close in the top-10. We can’t avoid it. It’s something that’s going to happen anyway, we cannot avoid that fight anyway.”
As a matter of fact, Ciryl Gane and Francis Ngannou have a bit of a connection. Gane trains under Fernand Lopez at MMA Factory in Paris, just like Francis Ngannou used to before his well-publicized falling out with Lopez.
Lopez went as far as to say that Ngannou had an ego problem:
"Francis had an ego problem. What I said to Francis, because he went to me and said 'How can you back up what Dana White is saying that I have an ego?' and I'm like 'Francis, listen: Being your coach means that I have to bring the truth. Everyone around you is scared of you. Everyone is scared about the fact that they want to be close to you. They want the hype. They want the light. They want to be close to you. I don't give a damn. If I feel like you have you have an ego problem, I'll say that you have an ego problem, and that's the truth! You have an ego problem! You become your own coach!'"
Ciryl Gane says he is 'not really close' to former teammate Francis Ngannou
While Fernand Lopez' relationship with former pupil Francis Ngannou has publicly broken down, Ciryl Gane doesn't have much of a relationship with his former MMA Factory teammate either:
"No, because when I arrived in the gym, in MMA Factory, Francis lived already in Vegas. I just saw Francis a few times, when he came back to Paris to prepare for a fight, so no, I’m not really close to Francis."
Before Gane can worry about fighting Ngannou however, he will first have to deal with a tough former champion in Junior Dos Santos at UFC 256 this weekend.
With the backstory between the two fighters, a Gane vs. Ngannou bout would definitely be interesting.