Ciryl Gane accepts 'dangerous' Derrick Lewis' callout, targets summer return

Ciryl Gane is happy to oblige Derrick Lewis’ callout.

Gane (8-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) is known for not calling out his rivals, but after Lewis mentioned his name as a possibility, the French contender thinks the matchup makes sense as a No. 1 contender fight.

Lewis (25-7 MMA, 16-5 UFC) is coming off a second-round knockout of Curtis Blaydes in the main event of UFC Fight Night 185 headliner, while Gane successfully went the full five rounds for the first time in his career to earn a unanimous decision over Jairzinho Rozenstruik the following week at UFC Fight Night 186.

Despite earning a one-sided decision over Rozenstruik, Gane received some criticism for not finishing the fight. But if the Lewis matchup comes to fruition, he aims to leave matters out of the judges’ hands.

“If the fight (Lewis) is going to be OK for the contract, I think I’d like to finish the fight before the end,” Gane told MMA Junkie. “Of course, because I know it’s good to finish the fight, but it’s better to finish the fight before the end. So if I can, I’m gonna do it.”

Gane is wary of the dangers Lewis brings, however, with “The Black Beast” coming from behind on numerous occasions to starch his opponents.

“You see the fight between Curtis and Derrick one week before? Blaydes, if he didn’t (shoot) too much with the wrestling, probably he would win the fight,” Gane said. “But he did just one mistake to go in front of Derrick Lewis and he did just one uppercut and he finished the fight. For me, the people say, ‘Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!’ but I don’t want to do the same game like Curtis Blaydes. It’s a little bit of a shame.”

He continued, “He doesn’t have a lot of skills, but this guy is f*cking dangerous. With one punch, just one punch, he can finish the game and he’s No. 2 in the rankings just with one punch. So yes, this guy is really dangerous.”

Gane came out of the Rozenstruik fight relatively unscathed, but is looking to take a couple of months off. “Bon Gamin” wants to focus on a strength and conditioning regimen, something he says he’s never had the opportunity to do.

“Maybe not now because I never did a good workout for the strength,” Gane said. “And when you want to work on your strength, you need maybe two months. So not now, maybe in three months, so maybe in June or July.”