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Ciryl Gane's coach and manager has responded to the long-running allegations against his star pupil of supposedly ducking multiple opponents. Gane's longtime coach, Fernand Lopez of the MMA Factory in France, particularly addressed UFC 304 and suggested that the heavyweight star would've likely gotten sued if he agreed to fight at the event.
On The MMA Hour in April 2024, interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall suggested that Gane ducked multiple high-ranking heavyweights such as Curtis Blaydes, Sergei Pavlovich, and himself (Aspinall). Aspinall claimed Gane turned him down multiple times, including a potential matchup in Paris last year.
Gane vehemently refuted Aspinall's allegations. Besides, in March 2024, Blaydes claimed that Gane had previously refused to fight him, which is why he too would refuse to face him.
Moreover, in May 2024, Tom Aspinall continued targeting Ciryl Gane over the alleged ducking and jibed at 'Bon Gamin' over his decision to film a movie rather than compete inside the octagon. Presently, Aspinall's booked to defend his interim heavyweight belt in a rematch against Blaydes at UFC 304 (July 27, 2024).
Speaking to MMA Junkie, Lopez recently asserted that the first and only time the UFC offered Gane the Aspinall matchup was for UFC 304. Lopez indicated that Gane had already acquired the UFC's permission to have a specific period devoted to his filming obligations, which coincided with UFC 304. Lopez emphasized:
"He's not ducking anyone."
Lopez asserted that apart from turning down the Aspinall fight at UFC 304, all the other claims of Gane having turned fights down were incorrect.
The coach highlighted that one could confirm his claims with UFC CEO Dana White, CBO Hunter Campbell, and matchmaker Mick Maynard. Lopez seemed to suggest that the UFC messaged Gane and Co. to attempt to take time out from his filming and fight Aspinall at UFC 304, but that wasn't feasible.
Additionally, Lopez asserted that the only offer Gane received for UFC 300 (April 2024) was a fight against Pavlovich, which Pavlovich allegedly turned down.
Moreover, Lopez claimed that Aspinall had turned down a fight against Gane at UFC 300 and pursued a big-money, legacy fight against Jon Jones instead. He doesn't fault Aspinall or anyone for doing what's best for themselves, but he expects the Englishman to extend the same courtesy to Gane.
MMA great Georges St-Pierre recently highlighted that a Netflix series would star Ciryl Gane and Jon Jones. However, Lopez alluded to a movie featuring Gane. Indicating that Gane would've contractually been at odds with Netflix if he'd fought at UFC 304, Lopez stated:
"Ciryl will get sued and go to court and pay tons of money to Netflix to stop that movie from going. The only offer for UFC 300 was Pavlovich and Pavlovich said no."
What's next for Ciryl Gane after he's done with his filming obligations?
Former interim UFC heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane has competed for the undisputed UFC heavyweight title twice, losing to Francis Ngannou via unanimous decision in Jan. 2022 and to Jon Jones via first-round submission in March 2023. Gane's most recent fight saw him return to the win column after the Jones defeat -- 'Bon Gamin' stopped Serghei Spivac via second-round TKO in Sept. 2023.
As reported by AG Fight, Ciryl Gane's next octagon outing is expected to be a rematch against Russia's Alexander Volkov. Gane dominantly defeated Volkov via unanimous decision in their first encounter in June 2021. Apparently, the Gane-Volkov rematch is being targeted for UFC 308, which will transpire in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on Oct. 26, 2024.
