Ciryl Gane vs Sergey Spivak headlines UFC France in September

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to France this summer for UFC on ESPN 51, where no. 1 ranked hometown hero Ciryl Gane (11-2) again headlines the event, this time opposing no. 8 ranked Sergey Spivak (16-3).

UFC on ESPN 51 is to go down on September 2, 2023, live from the Accor Arena in Paris, France.

Following his title unification defeat to then champion Francis Ngannou, Ciryl Gane went into his UFC Paris main event slot last year against Tai Tuivasa, who came into the bout on a five-fight win streak, all five wins coming via knockout.

Gane walked away the victor via KO in round three, and he was back on the winning track going into his vacant title shot against former longtime light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

However, Jones made quick work of Gane, submitting (guillotine choke) him in a mere two minutes.

Now the former interim champion aims to get back to the title with a win over the surging Sergey Spivak.

Moldova’s Spivak has been very impressive as of late, going 6-1 over his latest seven appearances, coming into this fight on a three-fight win streak. In that time, his only defeat comes to no. 5 ranked Tom Aspinall, with his latest three victories coming over Greg Hardy (TKO), Augusto Sakai (TKO), and Derrick Lewis (arm-triangle choke).

This is a perfect striker versus grappler showcase in MMA today; Gane being a 13-0 kickboxing champion, and Spivak being a high level grappler.

Each of these men were also champions prior to joining the UFC roster; Gane being a TKO heavyweight champion, a title he defended twice, and Spivak being a WWFC heavyweight champion, a title he too defended twice prior to joining the UFC.

Of Gane’s 11 professional wins, five come via knockout with three submissions and three decisions, while of Spivak’s 16 professional wins, seven come via knockout with seven submissions and two decisions.

Who walks away from this heavyweight main event going down at UFC France the victor?

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Brady Ordway

I became a fan of combat sports when I was 12 years old. I was scrolling through the channels and landed upon Versus, where WEC was televised. Urijah Faber fought Jens Pulver for the second time that night. That's the first fight I ever saw, and I was immediately hooked. So eventually, I began covering the sport in the fourth quarter of 2018, and have since started writing about animals as well. If you'd like to see those pieces, be sure to check out learnaboutnature.com!

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