Undefeated heavyweight Ciryl Gane faces Shamil Abdurakhimov in UFC 249 on April 18 in Brooklyn, New York. It will be the first numbered UFC for him and a first on American ground. He will be on the card for Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson.
The Frenchman’s journey is perfectly orchestrated in order to bring it up to the title. This fight resembles a transfer of power between two generations.
Gane (6-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) will be able to count on his grappling, his speed, his technique and his 12 cm extension advantage to win the most difficult fight of his career in MMA. He will have to be wary of the experience of his opponent, who has 19 fights more than him.
“If I win my next fight, we’ll see what the matchmakers have in store for me, but I’m not in a hurry. I think things are already progressing pretty well for me. It’s only been five years that I started combat sports, so things are going well for me.” Gane said.
At the UFC since 2015, Abdurakhimov (20-5 MMA, 5-3 UFC) is from free wrestling and Wushu Sanda, where he has been champion of Russia 5 times. The Russian obtained prestigious victories over Walt Harris, Andrei Arlovski and Marcin Tybura in the octagon.
However, Abdurakhimov has a very average, even bad, takedown defense. In his last fight, against the American Curtis Blaydes, he bowed by TKO in the 2nd round, after a small demonstration of his opponent’s fight. 5 brought to the ground conceded, 5 minutes and 46 seconds spent in a weak position on the ground, a guard of porous Ju-jitsu and great difficulty in getting up, he exposed all his shortcomings last September.
With limited cardio, the 38-year-old Dagestani fighter tends to run out quickly when the fight changes level. Hitting to attack and defend or backing off in order to be ready to forget about boxing, this will be his dilemma.
