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In just 10 fights, Gane has gone from a neophyte with a background in Muay Thai and kickboxing to standing as the 1B to Ngannou’s 1A in the UFC heavyweight division. He’s undefeated, with more than two-thirds of his victories coming inside the Octagon, and last year alone, the humble standout earned victories over Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Alexander Volkov, and Derrick Lewis, claiming the interim strap in the latter of those contests by stopping “The Black Beast” in the third round.
While Gane thought it would take some time before he found himself opposite Ngannou, his head coach at Paris’ MMA Factory, Fernand Lopez, knew it would come sooner, rather than later, and drilled into his charge to be ready and more outwardly confident about his skills.
“For Fernand Lopez, it was, ‘It’s going to be tomorrow, so be focused, be ready because it’s going to happen,’” Gane said, echoing sentiments Lopez himself shared with me at the start of last year, when he was serving as the translator on a call ahead of Gane’s clash with Rozenstriuk.
COUNTDOWN: Ngannou vs Gane | Full Episode | Moreno vs Figueiredo
As the soft-spoken and mild mannered “Bon Gamin” (translation: “Good Kid”) danced around singing his own praises in hesitant English, Lopez playfully erupted and interjected.
““Ciryl is not a rookie anymore — he’s a contender for the title!” Lopez declared. “He’s a f****** contender! People need to know that. He’s humble, but I’ve never seen someone improving and growing that much, that fast, that well.