The news of the fight may have leaked somewhat prematurely on
Saturday, but the booking itself was legit: Ciryl Gane
will welcome Jon Jones to
the heavyweight division at UFC 285
on March 4.
Advertisement
“I’m really happy to be the first guy in this division fighting
with Jon
Jones,” Gane said at the UFC Fight Night 217 post-fight press
conference. “And I’m sure it’s going to be – he’s a great
athlete.”
UFC president Dana White confirmed the bout while revealing that
negotiations fell through with former heavyweight champion Francis
Ngannou for a potential fight with Jones. As a result, Ngannou
was stripped of the belt and has been released of his contractual
obligations with the promotion, and Gane vs. Jones will be for the
vacant heavyweight title.
While Gane doesn’t possess the same fearsome knockout power as
Ngannou, the Frenchman is confident that he might be a more
difficult matchup for Jones than the ex-champ.
“I know I’ve got good footwork at first, I think I’m a little bit
more well-rounded [than Ngannou],” Gane said. “I look a little bit
more like Jon Jones.
Yes, when you have a big guy that just wants to kill you with one
punch, it’s more easier for a guy well-rounded and smart like
Jon
Jones to manage the situation. Me, also, I am not like that. I
like to manage the situation. It’s going to be really good.”
There’s a little bit of the unknown surrounding Jones. While
“Bones” is regarded as one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters
of all time, it will have been more than three years since his last
bout when he stands across the Octagon from Gane at UFC 285. Gane
struggled to defend the takedown in his loss to Ngannou at UFC 270,
but he doesn’t expect Jones to focus on any one area in their
clash.
“He’s going to stay well-rounded. I don’t think he’s going to prove
something. I think he just wants to win his fight against me, and I
don’t know what is a good way to win against me,” Gane said. “Of
course, some people like to say my wrestling game is not good
because of the fight with Francis, but this is not the case. I was
not focused on just that. I’m well-rounded, too. I can imagine a
fight where we’re going to stay on the feet and maybe we’re going
to try some time to go down.”
Regardless of how the fight itself plays out, there’s no question
it will be a surreal moment for Gane, who followed Jones during his
rise to prominence as the youngest champion in UFC history.
“When I started watching this, Jon Jones was
one of my favorite fighters,” Gane said. “More when I started MMA,
because I’m a fan of every sport in MMA, and when you look at a guy
like Jon
Jones, who’s well-rounded like this, you really appreciate it.
He’s the GOAT. Look at his career.
“Today, I’m a young fighter, and I think it’s the dream of every
young fighter to fight against a GOAT. This is really crazy for
me.”