Ciryl Gane remained undefeated at UFC Vegas 20 but it was far from the performance, Dana White was expecting.
In the main event of the card, Gane won all five rounds against Jairzinho Rozenstruik to win a decision. It was a lackluster fight and White even skipped the post-fight press conference but shared his thoughts in a text message to Kevin Iole.
“Everybody’s talking about Ciryl being this big contender, but look at what Francis Ngannou did to Jairzinho,” White wrote to Iole of Yahoo Sports. “This was his coming out party and his chance to show the world who he is. He won, but let’s leave it at that. He won.
“Heavyweights are hit or miss,” White said. “I thought it was going to be a much better fight than it was. I think Jon Jones said it best in his tweet, though. These guys need to get a lot busier.
“With the heavyweights, you can have an incredible fight like you did [between Derrick Lewis and Curtis Blaydes] last week when they get out there and start banging and put on an incredible, incredible show. Sometimes, you get this.”
The criticism is no doubt harsh for Gane who many thought this would be his breakout performance. However, the Frenchman is pleased with his performance and understands why White would be mad.
“I can understand that,” Gane said at the UFC Vegas 20 press conference. “He is the boss, and he wants to make money, so you want the guy marketable. The people want the show. They want the big KO. So yes, I don’t finish the fight. I tried, but I don’t do it. I can understand that (criticism), but I’m OK.”
Ciryl Gane is also just 8-0 as a pro now, so he thinks he fought a smart fight to get the job done.
“I think I did it well,” Gane said. “I managed the fight on the feet. I tried to go down. I did the takedown. I think I managed well the fight on the feet.”
