It seems like only yesterday that Ciryl Gane was the hottest prospect at heavyweight and seemed destined for the title. Then he ran into Francis Ngannou who showed off his wrestling chops late in the fight to secure the win. Another shot saw him massacred in less than a round by Jon Jones. This weekend, Gane gets to test his grappling prowess again and take on Sergey Spivak to prove to his home country of France that he’s improved as a fighter at UFC Fight Night 226.
Today’s edition of Beforemath will dive into both Gane and Spivak as we attempt to answer several questions about both. Is Gane a threat at heavyweight any longer and has he developed basic anti-grappling techniques? Has Spivak learned from his loss to Tom Aspinall and worked out how to deal with an elusive, mobile opponent?
Spivak: Learn from Your Mistakes
Spivak has been on a tear since losing to Marcin Tybura in 2020. Now ranked seventh, Spivak has gone 6-1 with his lone loss to Aspinall and has won three straight since then. The key to his success has been in the clinch and he will look to do that again at “UFC Paris.” While Gane is tricky, he’s not as astute as Aspinall in the clinch which gives “Polar Bear” a middle ground to work with. He will need to be able to get to the clinch and show that a slippery opponent isn’t the key to beating him any longer. So how does the Polar Bear Team talent do that? How does Spivak get to the ground despite having a large power disadvantage in many of his fights? If Gane is lazy with his strikes, which is admittedly asking for a lot, Spivak has shown the ability to get the fight to the ground on his terms. Spivak will have to find his own ways to get in on Gane proactively.
Enter the heavyweight king: Tai Tuivasa. Tuivasa has a single moment of true, clever success against Gane. To land a low kick, Tuivasa (1) mirrored Gane’s stance, which is southpaw. To close the distance, (2) Tuivasa steps through to orthodox and reaches to control the lead hand of Gane. Finally, (3) Tuivasa smashes the leg of Gane with a low kick. Spivak can use the cross step similarly to Tuivasa and close distance. What would differ is what Spivak would do once in the pocket which is grabbing the single leg or a collar tie for a clinch exchange. One of Spivak’s better ways of getting his opponent to his realm is the inside trip. This is generally Spivak’s second line of attack, preceded by a single leg entry, and often followed by an attempt at a hip toss. But for the inside trip, and how it works, I want to throw it over to Henry Cejudo instead. Cejudo’s pedigree in Olympic wrestling speaks for itself and that inside trip is his bread and butter.
Gane’s Confidence Crisis
Gane may have a confidence crisis going into “UFC Paris.” Gane, who saw both of his title hopes dashed because of the grappling portion of the sport, will have to come up against yet another grappler that could defeat the former interim champion. This fight will be a crossroads in Gane’s career path. Jones has been hinting at retirement after his fight with Stipe Miocic. If that’s the case, then the bogeyman of the division is gone and we are looking at Gane vs. Sergei Pavlovich or Aspinall for the vacant title. This is a must win for “Bon Gamin,” but with Spivak’s insistence on fighting his game, it will be up to the fluid Gane to adopt a plan to win. So how would Gane go about doing that and not falling into the same old trap he saw himself in against Ngannou and Jones? The answer is short: create space.
Spivak’s game is reliant on the ability to close distance and grab a hold on his opponents. Gane will want to make sure to move laterally, as is par the course for his type of fighting, and make sure to stay out of any clinch positions. Gane uses the push kick, as animated above, to create a long, spearing weapon to intercept an opponent before they can get close. The kick to the midsection deters an opponent from coming in, pushes them backwards and allows Gane time to circle out and away. Against Jones, he failed to do this, and it was catastrophic, but against Ngannou, we saw the MMA Factory fighter utilize several techniques to warn Ngannou that getting to a clinch will not be free and damage will follow.
At the end of the day, this fight is actually so entertaining because of the unknowns. Will Gane fold at the first sign of a takedown attempt? Can Spivak weather the storm, get in and get the fight to his world? It’s the reason we watch fights. This weekend, Gane will have the chance to keep his name in the title race for the day Jones retires. We know the rematch will never come, so Jones leaving may be his only chance to win the title.