Throughout Jon Jones’ three-year hiatus from the cage, various fighters across two different weight classes (or three, if you include Israel Adesanya) have attempted to position themselves to be the man to greet the former longtime UFC light heavyweight champion when he makes his return to the cage.
And in the end the task falls to former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane — the outstanding French striker who has been defeated just once in an extensive mixed martial arts and Muay Thai career. Should Gane get the job done against Jones on March 4 in the UFC 285 main event from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, it will see him claim the vacant (and undisputed) heavyweight crown and it would also see him become the first fighter to score a legitimate victory against Jones in his MMA career (sorry Matt Hamill).
Gane, 32, earned his second opportunity at heavyweight gold, in part at least, by easing past some of the division’s most feared power-punchers. Most recently, he scored a sensational knockout win against Tai Tuivasa in the UFC’s debut in Paris, France back in September and before that, he did the same to Derrick Lewis in a fight in which he claimed the division’s interim heavyweight title, and which you can watch again below:
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