Ciryl Gane understands why UFC President Dana White may not have been happy with UFC Fight Night 186’s main attraction.
Gane (8-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) won a relatively monotonous unanimous decision victory over Jairzinho Rozenstruik (11-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) at the main heavyweight event on Saturday at UFC Apex in Las Vegas . It was his first highlight, and apparently White was not happy with what he saw.
Although White did not attend the UFC Fight Night 186 post-fight press conference, he commented on Gane’s victory via Yahoo! Kevin Iole from Sports, who shared the message directly with Gane.
“Everyone is talking about Ciryl being that big competitor, but look what Francis Ngannou did with Jairzinho,” wrote White to Iole. “This was his debutante party and his chance to show the world who he is. He won, but we’ll leave it at that. He won.”
Gane said he understands White’s perspective, although he does not take all the blame. The cage-side commentary team, made up of Jon Anik, Michael Bisping and Paul Felder, put a lot of pressure on Rozenstruik, who got it within 42 minutes, against Gane’s 102.
There was no major highlight or dramatic moment in the fight. And for that reason, Gane said he understands why White may have been disappointed.
“I can understand that,” said Gane. “He’s the boss and he wants to make money, so you want the guy to be marketable. People want the show. They want the big KO. So yes, I don’t finish the fight. I tried, but I don’t. I can understand that (criticism), but I’m fine. “
Putting it all aside, Gane said he is feeling very positive about the victory. He just beat a more experienced opponent in his first UFC main fight to advance to 8-0 in his career, and is happy with the effort he made to get there.
“I think I did well,” said Gane. “I managed to fight on my feet. I tried to get down. I made the fall. I think I managed to fight well standing up. “