UFC president Dana White confirmed the UFC is working on a key heavyweight bout between Junior Dos Santos and Ciryl Gane.
Gane was originally set to take on UFC newcomer Ante Delija at this Saturday’s UFC Fight Island 6 card, but Delija withdrew from the contest due to contractual issues, leaving Gane without an opponent. Now the UFC is targeting a bigger fight for Gane as White says the UFC is hoping to match him up against JDS. No date for the bout was revealed for the bout, which pits two of the UFC’s top-15 heavyweights against one another.
JDS (21-8) is the former UFC heavyweight champion and is currently the No. 7 ranked fighter in the division. However, JDS has really struggled over his last three fights, suffering three consecutive TKO losses to Curtis Blaydes, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and Francis Ngannou. However, it was just March 2019 that he knocked out Derrick Lewis, who is one of the top fighters in the weight class. At age 36, JDS is not able to absorb as much punishment as he was once able to. But he still has the power to KO anyone.
Gane (6-0) is the No. 13 ranked heavyweight in the UFC. Just 29 years old, the France native is 3-0 in the UFC with wins over Tanner Boser, Don’Tale Mayes by heel hook, and Raphael Pessoa. Gane has had problems finding an opponent in 2020 as he has lost multiple fights due to his opponents withdrawing. Fortunately, it looks like the UFC has been able to secure a tremendous replacement for Gane in the form of JDS. For Gane, this is actually a much bigger fight than either Ante Delija or Shamil Abdurakhimov.
