Fans riot over Cyril Gane landing illegal shots on wobbled Tai Tuivasa, question refereeing

At UFC Paris, Ciryl Gane had a commanding performance in a historic card set in France for the first time. His opponent Tai Tuivasa had his moments as well. Particularly in the second round when he brutally struck the Frenchman and knocked him down.

But Gane bounced back and secured the victory with one of the most aggressive striking performances in the heavyweight category. Nevertheless, there were several complaints from the crowd concerning referee Marc Goddard’s apparent disregard for an illegal blow.

The Australian arrived in France well-prepared. In the second round, Tuivasa took advantage by wobbling Gane.  With 37 seconds remaining, Gane overcame the blazing heavyweight athlete by finding his rhythm once again.

Tuivasa, who recently defeated Derrick Lewis by technical knockout, came close to pulling off another stunner when he delivered a vicious blow to Gane.

Tuivasa won the affections of the audience and people watching at home due to his heart and willingness to push forward even when very injured. However, Gane assumed control of the cage as the third round got underway and came up with a finish after putting an amazing amount of pressure on his opponent.

Although referee Marc Goddard missed a couple of illegal shots from Gane during the final sequence, viewers observed that Gane’s performance was remarkable. On Twitter, they made the same observation.

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.

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 stoubborness and lack of recovery caught up with him, and Gane would layer on the punishmenr wobble Tai and follow up with heavy duty shots for a TKO finish.

One fan wrote: “Hey @marcgoddard_uk can you explain your reasoning on not calling illegal shots to the back of the head. I thought my understanding was those are illegal strikes? In the first Colby/Usman fight Usman landed several of those shots and they weren’t called”

Another observed: “What a win for Ciryl. Masterclass. But funny how yet again Marc Goddard just ignores strikes to the back of the head.”

While another wrote: “@ufc @danawhite illegal hammer fist to the back of the head. Blatant @marcgoddard_uk yay or nay? Of course it was inevitable, but…still illegal. When do the rules apply and @ whose discretion?”

And they’re not the only ones either. MMA Analyst Jack Slack observed

“Very courageous performance from Tuivasa in the face of a much more skilled opponent. Not gonna s*it on that at all.”