Sometimes, a star turn simply begs for hyperbole.
Analyst Paul Felder called it an "almost flawless victory." Cohort Michael Bisping upped the ante and deemed it "a perfect performance." And blow-by-blow man John Gooden took the extra step and deemed it a "masterpiece" while gushing that they "ought to hang it in the Louvre."
Truth be told, none were too far from reality.
Such was the complete nature of Ciryl Gane's throttling of Serghei Spivac, during which the two-time heavyweight title challenger made a streaking seventh-ranked contender—who'd beaten three straight quality foes in barely more than nine minutes—look far more like a cauliflower punching bag.
"After my last fight it was my mission to prove I'm still here," Gane said. "He was tough, but I was so glad to be here in front of you. This is where I belong."
Indeed, it was a long way from Las Vegas for Gane, who'd last been seen surrendering to Jon Jones after just 124 seconds of their bout for a then-vacant heavyweight title at UFC 285 in March. It was a second unsatisfying bite at the apple for the accomplished French striker, who'd also dropped a unanimous decision to then-champ Francis Ngannou 14 months at UFC 270.
And had he been taken to the mat and smothered by Spivac in a similar fashion, it might have been the end of the line for the now-33-year-old. Instead, having dispatched one of the division's hottest fighters, he's well within reason to suggest yet another title run is in his sight lines.
"We f--ked up twice, with Jon Jones and Francis," Gane said, "but I stayed with the game plan, and you see the result."
Gane was quickly busy strafing Spivac with jabs, kicks, and body punches in the opening moments of the fight but the true turning point came about halfway through the first round when he expertly sprawled to defend a takedown attempt. And when he landed a hard knee to Spivac's midsection as the two men got back to their feet, it was almost as if the Moldovan's competitive balloon began deflating.
Gane landed 51 significant strikes to Spivac's seven in the first round—blending 19 to both the head and body and 13 more to the legs—and more body shots to begin the second ushered in the final sequence. Gane landed a hard right hand around Spivac's guard at the 3-minute mark and continued to bombard him with flurries as referee Marc Goddard warned the stricken fighter to respond.
He didn't. And Goddard ended it at 3:44 of the second.
Spivac walked back to his corner with no protest while Gane celebrated with his team and basked in the approval of a partisan crowd and perhaps whetted the appetite of No. 4 contender Tom Aspinall seated near the cage. Aspinall, during fight week, had called for a match with Saturday's winner.
"My mission, whoever it is, is to keep going forward," Gane said. "My mission is to get the belt. That's what I'm going to do."
