Ciryl Gane continues rise up the UFC heavyweight ranks with smart victory over Jairzinho Rozenstruik
It wasn’t a spectacular performance, but Ciryl Gane did what had to be done to remain unbeaten and defeat his toughest opponent yet in Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
In the UFC Fight Night 186 main event, Gane fought smartly in peppering the Surinamese fighter from range with jabs from both hands – switching stances in between – and showed his grappling edge when required. Gane also came close to securing a standing rear-naked choke in the second round
As for Rozenstruik, “Bigi Boy” struggled to effectively close the distance and pull the trigger on his punches.
Gane displayed some great fight IQ as he avoided any of the danger Rozenstruik poses with his power. All three judges agree, scoring the contest 50-45 in favour of the Frenchman.
“Bon Gamin” is in the title picture now. Though, one of his new heavyweight rivals in Jon Jones wasn’t particularly impressed by what he saw.
These boys better get used to pushing the pace, all this standing around ain’t gonna fly when daddy comes home. #ufcvegas20
— BONY (@JonnyBones) February 28, 2021
In the night’s co-main event, Magomed Ankalaev extended his winning run to six and is starting to look like a problem for the UFC’s top light heavyweights.
Opponent Nikita Krylov started the contest well, landing punches and kicks in the opening round.
But Dagestan’s Ankalaev grew into the fight thanks to his grappling. He scored takedowns in both the second and third rounds, showed good control and ground and pound when down on the mat, and stifled Krylov’s striking attack on the feet with his solid clinch game.
All three judges scored the fight 29-28 to Ankalaev.
The sole contest on the main card that featured women ended in a rare draw.
Montana De La Rosa and Mayra Bueno Silva fought a bloody, back-and-forth battle that displayed the varying skillsets in mixed martial arts.
Brazil’s Silva clearly had the striking edge over her opponent with her most significant success coming in the form of a crushing knee and elbow strikes that left visible damage on De La Rosa’s left eye.
On the other side, it was obvious that De La Rosa had the grappling advantage. The Elevation Fight Team product looked strong in the clinch, got the takedowns she was hunting for and displayed solid control on the ground. De La Rosa took full mount in the second round and looked close to securing an arm-triangle choke.
However, the complexion of this flyweight fight changed after Silva was penalised for a fence grab and was deducted a point by referee Jerin Valel. That was ultimately the deciding factor that saw this contest end in a majority draw.
One judge, Eric Colon, scored the fight 28-27 to Silva, while Sal D’Amato and Derek Clear both scored it 28-28.
Calf kicks are becoming increasingly prominent in mixed martial arts and that was on show in the eagerly anticipated rematch between Pedro Munhoz and Jimmie Rivera on Saturday night.
Munhoz targeted Rivera’s calf with a steady stream of kicks as soon as the bout began and that left the New Jersey native in some serious bother. Rivera was left in a lot of pain and his mobility was clearly hindered by his Brazilian opponent’s focused attack.
However, Rivera showed a lot of resilience and continued to march forward on that leg to try and land power punches to the head and body and had some success in doing so. He continued to get his calf carved up by Munhoz and was forced to alternate stances later in the fight to continue throwing his shots.
Ultimately, Rivera’s efforts after that opening round were in vain as Munhoz went ahead after the first five minutes and that early damage set him up for success later on.
All three judges scored it 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 to Munhoz, who snapped his two-fight losing skid and avenged his 2015 defeat to Rivera in the process.
Alex Caceres, AKA Bruce Leeroy, made it four wins in a row with a dominant performance against Kevin Croom in the UFC Fight Night 186 main card opener.
The Ultimate Figher season 12 alum Caceres picked Croom apart with punches on the feet and showed top-quality takedown defence to exhaust his opponent and shut down his route to victory.
Croom was relentless in his pursuit for a takedown and had little success hunting after it. He was visibly tired as early as the second round as he emptied his gas tank during these efforts.
When the fight did hit the ground, Caceres looked fresh and more than capable to do whatever he wanted. He almost secured a triangle choke in the second round, while in the third he was able to take Croom’s back, threaten with a series of rear-naked chokes and land ground and pound.
Wheverer the fight went, Caceres had the edge. The judges scored the contest 30-26, 30-26 and 30-27 after three rounds.
UFC Vegas 20: Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Ciryl Gane full results
Heavyweight: Ciryl Gane def. Jairzinho Rozenstruik by unanimous decision after five rounds
Light Heavyweight: Magomed Ankalaev def. Nikita Krylov by unanimous decision after three rounds
Women’s Flyweight: Mayra Bueno Silva and Montana De La Rosa fought to a majority draw after three rounds
Bantamweight: Pedro Munhoz def. Jimmie Rivera by unanimous decision after three rounds
Featherweight: Alex Caceres def. Kevin Croom by unanimous decision after three rounds
Lightweight: Thiago Moisés def. Alexander Hernandez by unanimous decision after three rounds
Women’s Bantamweight: Alexis Davis def. Sabina Mazo by unanimous decision after three rounds
Bantamweight: Ronnie Lawrence def. Vince Cachero by TKO (punches) at 2:38 of round three
Catchweight: Dustin Jacoby def. Maxim Grishin by unanimous decision after three rounds