Ciryl Gane’s head coach Fernand Lopez has provided a bit of clarification regarding the recent comments Gane made about his dedication to training.
“Bon Gamin” is scheduled to welcome Jon Jones back to the Octagon when the two fighters meet for the vacant heavyweight title at UFC 285.
The 32-year-old previously won the promotion’s interim heavyweight belt in 2021 but came up short in his attempt to unify the heavyweight titles against Francis Ngannou at UFC 270, while Jones will be making his heavyweight debut after previously reigning as the UFC’s light heavyweight king.
Gane recently attracted a bit of attention for an interview where he suggested that he was “lazy” in his training and would only get into the gym when he had a fight booked, but the MMA Factory’s Lopez clarified the Frenchman’s comments in his own interview with MMA Junkie.
“That’s true, that’s how Ciryl used to be,” Lopez responded. “Before, Ciryl was the kind of guy that will train only if he have the fight…And since the loss that he had, that was a really good thing that happened. Is that Ciryl just changed his mindset, and Ciryl start to train even when we don’t have a date. Because Ciryl now knows that the evolution is coming when you don’t have a date, so you can improve, so you can learn, so you can add some tools. But whenever you have a date, you cannot thinking about evolution anymore. You’re thinking about the fight, how to beat this guy in front of you. So when they give you the name Jon Jones, everything drops…Now you focus on how to beat the fighter.”
“What He’s Saying Is Not Any Excuse”
The comments made by Gane quickly resulted in questions online regarding his preparation for the Jones fight, but Lopez provided a simple message for anyone doubting the 32-year-old’s commitment to training.
“So before, that was Ciryl…And people – I don’t know why people are surprised when Ciryl is saying that. He didn’t have enough of time – he’s not trying to have any excuse, he’s not saying any excuse. He’s being truthful, saying that – A camp, usually a camp when we do a camp is like three months, all right? But we didn’t have three months, because when they announced the fight we had less than two months. That’s what he’s saying…This time we had to make it different. Work to maintain the stamina, to maintain the strength that he had during the time that we didn’t have a fight. Even when he was injured, he was keep training on the strength and conditioning. So, I’m not worried about that. What he’s saying is not any excuse, try to prepare excuse like if he lost, incase he lost because he didn’t train. That’s bullshit.”
“Bon Gamin” will likely need to bring his full arsenal of skills once he meets Jones at UFC 285, as the Frenchman will try to become the first fighter to defeat “Bones” outside of winning by disqualification. Gane will have the advantage of being a natural heavyweight with experience in the weight class, whereas Jones will be moving up a division and also be fighting for the first time in more than three years.
The headlining fight between Jones and Gane is arguably the most anticipated bout of the year so far, and UFC 285 will also include a title fight in the co-main event when Valentina Shevchenko defends her women’s flyweight belt against Alexa Grasso.
What do you think of the explanation Lopez gave regarding Gane’s comments about only training when he has a fight booked?
Please provide transcription credit with a link to this article if you use any of these quotes.