Ciryl Gane has competed in some of the biggest fights the heavyweight division has to offer, but he believes Sunday’s clash with Alex Pereira at UFC White House stands alone. The former interim champion called the event a historic occasion and embraced the challenge of welcoming one of the UFC’s biggest stars to the heavyweight ranks.
“I’m going to say maybe more than Tom (Aspinall), but the fight with Tom was huge also because a lot of people waiting for this fight. New bridge of generation of heavyweight. It was a beautiful event also,” Gane told reporters including Cageside Press on Wednesday.
“But this one going to be unique. Going to be just historic so I’m happy. Pereira is a great champion.”
Gane (13-2) said he isn’t making the mistake of underestimating Pereira simply because of the move up in weight class. The former interim heavyweight champion expects Pereira and his team to have thoroughly prepared for the transition and plans to approach the matchup as if he’ll be facing the very best version of the Brazilian striker.
“He is a professional so I’m pretty sure what he do with his team. I’m preparing because we expected the best version of Alex Pereira (at) heavyweight. Full speed, conditioning and power,” he said.
The former UFC interim heavyweight champion is coming off a no contest bout with heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall which ended due to an unfortunate eye poke. Gane admitted the immediate aftermath of the bout left him dealing with a whirlwind of emotions, particularly after all the sacrifices and preparation that went into the fight.
“Straight after the fight, in the cage, I was a mix of feelings. Little bit frustrated, little bit angry, little bit sad because thinking about all the sacrifice I made. After that it was a good first round, injury free, most important is that,” he said.
“I was a little bit confused, but after that I was ok.”
Gane didn’t appear interested in escalating the war of words surrounding the controversy, instead taking a measured approach to Aspinall’s accusation. The French heavyweight maintained that he followed the rules throughout the contest and pointed to the referee’s handling of the situation as validation of his conduct inside the cage.
“This is his opinion. You have a beautiful professional referee. The referee told me nothing because I respect the rules. It’s just an opinion,” said Gane.
Watch the entire media day scrum with Ciryl Gane above. He faces Alex Pereira at UFC White House on Sunday night.
