Because of the shocking nature of the main event, and just how great of a fight it ended up being, we really haven't seen as much discourse about the co-main event of the evening. Cyril Gane knocked out Alex Pereira in the second round of their interim heavyweight championship fight. Pereira was making his attempt to capture a title in his 3rd weight class after transitioning from kickboxing over to MMA not all that long ago. There were a lot of questions with how he would adapt to such a massive jump in weight and unfortunately, I don't think we got a ton of answers just because of the nature of Cyril Gane as an opponent and how the fight ended up playing out. It ended up being a solid fight while it lasted and then Gane quickly put an end to it to capture the interim title for the second time in his career. It wasn't as crazy of a back and forth battle like the main event was, but it was my most highly anticipated fight of te night and I think it was that way for most others as well. Let's talk more about the performances and where we should go from here for the both of them.
We'll start with the fight itself and because it didn't last all that long, I don't really feel the need to break it down from each of their perspectives, but rather do it all at once. The first round really wasn't all that eventful. Both of them came out a little cautious and didn't want to risk over extending and ending up paying the price for it. Alex was on the front foot and was focused more on landing his low kicks than anything else. He really didn't throw a whole lot and it felt like he was really just trying to feel out how it is to fight at his new size and against opponents of that size. Gane didn't do anything all that crazy or unexpected either. He threw some jabs and he utilized the split stance to throw more kicks than we typically see him put out there. Gane was the more active fighter early and got his game going a little more easily and was able to pretty cleanly win a slower paced first round. It seemed to me that the movement from Gane was a big concern for Alex and that is likely why he was so focused on trying to work Gane's legs early to force him to stand in front of him in the latter half of the fight, but it just never got there because not too far into the second round, Gane lands the big shot that puts Pereira down momentarily. He lands some follow up shots and some elbows after Alex grabbed onto a single leg. Some of those punches definitely got the back of his head and some were questionable. Alex somehow worked back to his feet and tried to fire some power shots back, but he was clearly still out of it. Gane was able to land another flurry of follow up shots before the referee stepped in to finally put an end to the onslaught even though Pereira somehow managed to keep his feet. I think the durability was one of the bigger questions going up to heavyweight for Alex and probably got overlooked going into this fight just because we don't really think of Gane as the kind of guy who has big power or really even pushes for the finish very often. In hindsight, a guy who fought most of his career at middleweight going up to heavyweight when his durability already seemed to be declining was probably a recipe for disaster even if it was against an opponent with below average power for his size. That isn't to say that I think Alex is done, but I think most people probably undersold that aspect of the fight going into it.
In terms of what's next, we'll start with Gane since that is the much more straightforward course of action. This sets up the title unification bout and rematch with Tom Aspinall that I think everyone really wants to see at this point. I'm not sure it was a huge fight when it was announced the first time, but after how good Gane looked up until the eye poke and the controversy that has loomed over the division for months on end now. There was a clip of Tom responding to Gane's call out for September in Paris and saying the date sounds good to him and while I highly doubt they'll do it on a Paris non numbered event, the fact that the timeline works for him to come back is good news. October is usually an Abu Dhabi event, so I'm not sure if Tom vs Cyril is what they want, but if not then MSG in November seems like an equally great option to me. If Tom isn't ready by then, he's probably getting stripped and Gane will be promoted to undisputed instead of defending the interim title. In that case, as much as I hate to say it, he probably fights Josh Hokit. No one is calling for another Volkov fight. The Pavlovich fight could be justified I suppose, but it doesn't feel like anyone is excited to see him fight at all, including the UFC as he's been banished to only fighting on the Russia cards that are on at 4 am. I think Hokit is really the only guy with any momentum right now that anyone would really even care about getting a shot if Aspinall can't go.
Alex Pereira is the much more interesting side of this conversation because he has significantly more options to consider. First and foremost, he has to decide if he wants to remain at heavyweight or go back down to 205. If I had to guess, I think it makes the most sense career wise to stay at heavyweight. There just really isn't much for him to do at 205 right now. Ulberg has the belt and is out for awhile with the knee injury. The highest ranked fighter he hasn't already beaten outside of Ulberg is Paulo Costa at number 7. I just don't know how much interest anyone has in a trilogy with Ankalaev or rematches with Rountree, Blachowicz, or Jamahal Hill. On top of that, whichever they picked is an interim title fight and then he has to sit around and wait for Ulberg to come back and by the time that fight happens, Alex is on the doorstep of 40. I'm not really sure there's any payoff there for him or really for the UFC at this point. Even though he has lost to Gane, heavyweight is probably the thinnest division in the entire sport and likely isn't more than a win or 2 away from jumping right back into a title fight, especially with an Aspinall win. Because he is new to the division, everyone is a fresh matchup for him as well. The most likely in my opinion is Josh Hokit. Hokit has the momentum and Alex is the name value he needs in order to vault himself into the position as the clear number one contender. There is already some heat between the two as well. Hokit also represents Alex's most direct way to a title shot as well because of the hype he carries and how much attention that fight would garner. While they are tough fights, I don't know that Pavlovich, Volkov, or Waldo Cortes Acosta really move the needle all that much. For me, Hokit is the clear and obvious move while I guess I would say Volkov is my backup option right now just because Volkov has some momentum on his side and is probably the closest he's been to a title shot maybe ever.
What did you guys think of the fight? How excited are you for Gane vs Aspinall 2? What would you do next if you were Alex Pereira? Leave any and all thoughts in the comments and let me know what you guys think. Thanks for reading and have a great rest of your day.
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