Ciryl Gane puts Junior dos Santos away with elbow

Ciryl Gane’s leg kicks battered Junior dos Santos, but an elbow ultimately ended the affair at UFC 256 on Saturday, Dec. 12.

Gane swarmed dos Santos after landing a right jab in the second round. A controversial elbow put dos Santos to the floor inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. Dos Santos complained about the strike being illegal, but Gane still came away with his fourth UFC victory.

The Frenchman remains undefeated at 7-0.

No matter who is the winner of the UFC 256 main event, Deiveison Figuieredo is making history.

The 125-pound king makes the quickest turnaround ever as a champion against Brandon Moreno inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. It marks the same location where he made his first title defense by submitting Alex Perez in the first round at UFC 255 on Nov. 21.

The former UFC interim champion Tony Ferguson looks to rebound from a fifth-round TKO loss to Justin Gaethje back in May, taking on the surging Charles Oliveira in the co-main event.

Kicking off the main card is a a battle between two ranked heavyweight contenders in former champion Junior dos Santos and the undefeated Ciryl Gane.

Dos Santos is on the toughest stretch of his career with three-straight defeats. He most recently lost to Jairzinho Rozenstruik via second-round TKO at UFC 252 in August. The stretch includes defeats to Curtis Blaydes and Francis Ngannou, all who are currently ranked in the top three of the division.

Pegged at 7, the former champion draws a No. 14 ranked contender in Gane. Gane has been inactive for just short of a year.

He most recently earned a unanimous decision against Tanner Boser at UFC Fight Night 165 in December 2019. It is the first time the 30-year-old fought in all three rounds. Gane finished five of his six opponents and is currently 3-0 inside the octagon.

Here is how the heavyweight bout between Junior dos Santos and Ciryl Gane went down at UFC 256, including round-by-round scoring. For full results of the event, check them out right here.

Ciryl Gane knocks out Junior dos Santos

ROUND 1

They tap gloves and meet in the middle. Both hesitant early on. Gane misses with a front teap. Gane wraps up the neck of dos Santos. Dos Santos pushes Gane off. Gane lands a leg kick. Gane is active with the kicks, dos Santos counters with a right uppercut. Dos Santos takes a leg kick, but lands a jab. gane goes to the body with a kick. Dos Santos blocks a head kick from  Gane. Gane continues to mix up his kicks. Dos Santos lands an inside leg kick. Dos Santos lands. a counter left as Gane come sin for a leg kick. Gane goes high again with a kick. Gane kicks the cup of dos Santos and there’s a break in action. The two get back to work. Gane lands a side kick to the thigh of dos Santos. Gane puts together two more kicks. Dos Santos throws a spinning back kick to the body. Gane lands a kick to the body. Dos Santos catches a leg kick, but Gane is able to turn and get his foot free. Gane gaining confidence, throwing high volume. Dos Santos swings a right hook and misses. Dos Santos lands spinning back kick, then throws his right hand and lands. Round ends on their feet. Gane landed more at higher volume

MyMMANews.com scores it 10-9 for Gane

ROUND 2

Gane lands a side kick on lead leg. Dos Santos returns a leg kick of his own. Gane right back to business, landing leg kicks. Dos Santos lands a right hand as Gane slips. Dos Santos takes a jab to the body. Gane swings his right hand and misses. Dos Santos misses. Gane is peppering the lead leg of dos Santos with leg kicks. Gane stuns dos Santos with a right jab. Dos Santos takes an elbow to the side of his head and falls to the canvas. Gane swarms. Referee is forced to step in. Dos Santos not happy, saying the elbow landed to the back of the head.

Hou la la!

🇫🇷 @Ciryl_Gane is forreal, folks! #UFC256 pic.twitter.com/eAlmE9J2OC

— UFC (@ufc) December 13, 2020

Official decision: Ciryl Gane def. Junior dos Santos via TKO at 2:34 in round 2

Connor Northrup

Connor Northrup once covered municipal meetings and promised himself never again. He is now combining his passion for Mixed Martial Arts and reporting all into one.

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