UFC Heavyweight Contender Ciryl Gane Responds to Criticism of his Performance Against Jairzinho Rozenstruik

Published 02/28/2021, 7:38 AM EST

UFC heavyweight Ciryl Gane took to social media and provided a statement following his dominant decision win over Jairzinho Rozenstruik. The heavy hitters met in the main event for UFC Vegas 20 in a veteran vs prospect bout. Rozenstruik has faced some stiff UFC competition and also has a laundry list of kickboxing match-ups. In stark contrast, Gane is just getting started and entered the bout with just seven professional fights.

‘Bon Gamin’ used his jab effectively early on and chased the takedown to close out a majority of the rounds. He largely cruised to victory and there was no doubt as to whether he would pick up the decision win. The MMA Factory stand-out swept the scorecards with a 50-45 win and announced his presence.

Great performance overall, not the show that I wanted to give to you guys but we come back to Paris with the win. I will do my very best to do better next time.
Thank you all for this amazing support 🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/zONqkktTz8
— Ciryl Gane (@ciryl_gane) February 28, 2021

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However, the fight certainly lacked entertainment value as both men didn’t overly commit to any violent offense. There was clear respect for the other man’s power and this led to some tentative movement whilst on the backfoot. UFC President Dana White was one of the many people who came out and criticized the fight, a critique that Gane acknowledged.

“Everybody’s talking about Ciryl Gane being this big contender, but look at what Francis Ngannou did to Jairzinho. This was his coming-out party and his chance to show the world who he is. He won, but let’s leave it at that. He won.”

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UFC heavyweight clash: Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs Ciryl Gane

Chiefly, Gane won the contest by fighting at range and he began heavily racking up the distance strikes over ‘Bigi Boy’. The Surinamese fighter in Jairzinho was looking solely for the counter hook shot that never ended up coming. He found success when he blitzed forward, however, that was far too infrequent to make an impact.

Gane did enough to win the fight, but he’s got work to do to win the boss’ favor. There’s a lot to be said for not being able to put on an electric performance in your first UFC main event. However, it’s hard to blame Gane, especially when considering the nuclear power that Jairzinho Rozenstruik walks around with all the time.

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Darryl Pinto is a senior MMA writer at EssentiallySports. He is currently pursuing his graduate degree in Mass Media (with a specialization in Journalism) out of Xavier’s College and has a year's experience in his current role. Darryl specializes in predictions, reporting, and covering UFC events live.

UFC Heavyweight Contender Ciryl Gane Responds to Criticism of his Performance Against Jairzinho Rozenstruik

UFC heavyweight clash: Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs Ciryl Gane

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