MANILA, Philippines – In a stunning comeback, former UFC interim heavyweight champion and No. 1 contender Ciryl Gane overcame a second round knockdown and knocked out rising No. 3 contender Tai Tuivasa in the third round of an explosive heavyweight match in UFC Fight Night in Paris France last Sunday.
After a slow feeling-out first round, the heavy shots began to land. Tuivasa, looking to spoil the Frenchman’s first very showcase on home soil, threw a huge right that decked and wobbled Gane.
The Frenchman somehow found his footing and threw up a kick that had the Australian in retreat.
In the third round, Gane showed brilliance by continuing with body kicks and finished Tuivasa with punches for the KO at the 4:23 mark.
Earning the hometown victory, Gane said, "I have no words. Look at this — nobody expected this from France. Merci, merci, merci, merci! Tai is a warrior, he knocked me down and put me out. I had to be a warrior and come back even stronger. I got the win! I want the belt. That's all I want."
Gane improved to 11-1-0 while Tuivasa saw his five-match win streak snapped as he dropped to 15-4-0.
In the co-main event of the evening, middleweight No. 1 contender Robert Whittaker put on a smart performance to take a unanimous decision victory over No. 2 Marvin Vettori.
Whittaker was conservative but powerful with his punches, evasive, and forced Vettori to dig deep to stay in the match.
Following the win, Whittaker said, "I'm stoked with that. All respect to Vettori, I needed to be able to hurt him the whole time and he did not go away. Including the champion, I'm the most dangerous man in the division. I make people hate fighting, I take the love out of it for them. As for who's next: I'm always gunning for the top spot. I'm just going to be lurking here, waiting."
Whittaker salvaged the evening for Australia as his win put his record to 25-6-0 while Vettori fell to 18-6-1.
All in all, it was a successful night for French fighters, who pulled out fantastic wins: featherweight William Gomis, lightweights Farès Ziam and Benoît Saint-Denis, and middleweight Nassourdine Imavov. Imavov had his hometown crowd on their feet by showcasing the full complement of his vast arsenal and earning the win over an unrelenting Joaquin Buckley in a tremendously entertaining fight.
When the UFC returns to the United States in UFC 279 on Sunday, September 11, it will pit top welterweight challenger Khamzat Chimaev (11-0-0) against Nate Diaz (21-13-0).
UFC 279 will be shown on the Premier Sports Channel on Skycable and Cignal as well as on the TapGo streaming application.