Cyril Gane and Tai Tuivasa went into their 5 round main event at the Accor arena in Paris sizing each other up.
Through round 1 Gane was very measured and Tuivasa attempted to walk him down and pin him to the fence. While Gane likely won on points nobody will really remember that round 1 come Monday morning.
The action ramped up tremendously in round 2. Gane and Tuivasa had good sportsmanship throughout but it didn’t stop them from delivering on a round of must see television. Tuivasa started off by knocking Cyril Gane down and following up with some serious heavy shots.
What a round! pic.twitter.com/dUMd5WV3hK
— MS (@UFC_Obsessed) September 3, 2022
Gane retaliated landing a heavy body kick and then following that up with a series of knees straight to Tuivasa’s gut. Both of them were bleeding before the round was up – and no victor was announced.
— MS (@UFC_Obsessed) September 3, 2022
Gane was substantially more strategic in round 3. He injured Tuivasa several times and didn’t really get snagged himself. Tuivasa had struggled to take the gut shots. Tuivasa deserves serious admiration just for how stubborn he is. Tuivasa’s stubbornness and lack of recovery caught up with him, and Gane would layer on the punishment wobble Tai and follow up with heavy duty shots for a TKO finish.
#UFCParis'in ana maçında Ciryl Gane, Tai Tuivasa'yı üçüncü raundda nakavt etti. https://t.co/8qmNgTB72X
— Dövüş Dünyası (@Dovus_Dunyasi) September 3, 2022
After the event, Tuivasa appeared to recover but was still visibly upset about his loss. Gane repeatedly thanked the stadium crowd in addition to addressing his round 2 knock down.
“Honestly Tai hit me so hard he took the lights out I was out”
Gane also gave Tai Tuivasa a chance to say his peace on the mic. Tuivasa expressed gratitidue toward Fane and toward the Paris audience.
Final result? Gane defeats Tai Tuivasa vÃa KO – Round 3, 4:23
The first right hand that started this would have finished anyone. I don’t know what Tuivasa is made of. Unreal.
— Andreas Hale (@AndreasHale) September 3, 2022