Ciryl Gane told about the plan for a fight with Derrick Lewis. For Ciryl Gane, the strategy against Derrick Lewis is pretty simple: Stick and move.
In what has been a fast rise for the Frenchman, Gane (9-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) meets Lewis (25-7 MMA, 16-5 UFC) for the interim heavyweight title at UFC 265 on Aug. 7 in Houston.
While Gane has been pretty dominant in his ascent up the heavyweight ladder, Lewis has been surprising, scoring multiple come-from-behind knockouts over the likes of Alexander Volkov and, most recently, Curtis Blaydes in February.
“The Black Beast” boasts an 80 percent knockout rate and Gane is well aware it only takes one from Lewis.
“This guy is really dangerous with his fists,” Ciryl Gane told MMA Junkie. “So the plan is make pressure, touch him – but he’s not going to touch me. … I think it’s going to be my game plan like every fight: Touch the guy and never get touched.
“I touch him and he never touches me – something like that. And if it’s possible, finish the fight before the end. I’m going to try.”
Gane, who started his career with finishes in his first five fights, has only one stoppage in his past four outings. But the unbeaten 31-year-old has barely taken any damage when competing against some of the division’s most prolific finishers, and despite not being able to put Volkov away at UFC Fight Night 190, he showed more of a sense of urgency.
“People were happy about this performance because, yes, sure, my last fight against Jairzinho (Rozenstruik), some people said, ‘He’s not really aggressive,’” Ciryl Gane said. “So I did a little bit more against Volkov.”