{"id":65775,"date":"2022-09-04T14:55:09","date_gmt":"2022-09-04T14:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/ufc-paris-gane-vs-tuivasa-winners-and-losers\/"},"modified":"2022-09-04T14:55:09","modified_gmt":"2022-09-04T14:55:09","slug":"ufc-paris-gane-vs-tuivasa-winners-and-losers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/ufc-paris-gane-vs-tuivasa-winners-and-losers\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC Paris: Gane vs Tuivasa – Winners and Losers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

If the UFC wanted to find out if the top ranked fighters at heavyweight and middleweight in the official UFC rankings deserved their spots, UFC Paris should have put any nagging doubts to rest. <\/p>\n

In the heavyweight main event, No. 1 ranked Ciryl Gane topped No. 3 ranked Tai Tuivasa via third-round knockout. The battle earned the oft-criticized Gane (\u201che’s too safe\u201d) his first \u201cFight of the Night\u201d bonus and clearly locked in the ex-interim UFC champ as the top-ranked challenger for Francis Ngannou’s UFC heavyweight title.<\/p>\n

In the co-main event, No. 1 ranked middleweight Robert Whittaker showed all concerned that he remains the best UFC fighter at 185 pounds outside current champion Israel Adesanya. The former champ defeated No. 2 ranked Marvin Vettori via unanimous decision. One judge gave a single round to Vettori, outside of that, Whittaker owned the scorecards. <\/p>\n

The event also left UFC fans with a couple of names to add to their \u201cmust watch\u201d fighter lists. <\/p>\n

Read on for the winners and losers of UFC Paris, which took place at Accor Arena in Paris, France and streamed on ESPN+. <\/p>\n

Winners:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Ciryl Gane: <\/strong>During his post-fight interview with ESPN, a nonplussed Ciryl Gane said of his UFC Paris opponent, Tai Tuivasa, \u201cthis is the first time, a guy touched me and I go on my ass, that’s so crazy.\u201d But that knockdown, Gane said it was more a knockout than a knockdown when talking to UFC commentator Michael Bisping, might have been what Gane needed to take the next step in his MMA career. I know it wasn’t what he wanted, but hey, he recovered and came back to finish Tuivasa in the third round.<\/p>\n

Gane has gotten a reputation as a safe, maybe boring, fighter. His goal when he steps in the octagon is to hit and not be hit. Well, Tuivasa hit him \u2014 hard \u2014 and while it put him on his ass, it did n’t stop him. Gane recovered and then took control of the fight, hurting and weakening Tuivasa with body kicks \u2014 he finished the fight with 30 strikes to Tuivasa’s body in total in the second and third rounds \u2014 before finishing things with head strikes.<\/p>\n

Gane found out he can work through adversity in this contest. I don’t know if that knowledge will make him more aggressive \u2014 I doubt it will do that \u2014 but he and his team now know he can get out of a dicey situation with a heavy hitter and that’s something that’s required at the top of the heavyweight division. <\/p>\n

Thai Tuivasa:<\/strong> Tai Tuivasa lost the fight to Ciryl Gane, because of that he might drop a notch of two in the official UFC heavyweight rankings, but it’s hard to imagine any right-minded fan or UFC decision maker walked away from UFC Paris and thought, \u201cwell , that’s a wrap on Tai Tuivasa’s UFC career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuivasa might never hold a UFC title, but at 29, he’s young enough and violent enough that a title shot could well be in his future. Even if it’s not, Tuivasa is a certain type of heavyweight the UFC needs, someone who, to quote Tuivasa himself, is, \u201cdown to get down.\u201d<\/p>\n

The knockout loss to Gane ended Tuivasa’s run of five straight knockout wins, but his run of winning fight-night bonuses is intact. He and Gane earned \u201cFight of the Night\u201d honors in Paris, giving Tuivasa four straight bonus winning performances.<\/p>\n

Robert Whittaker:<\/strong> Robert Whittaker cemented his status as the best non-title holding middleweight in the UFC with a solid win over Marvin Vettori in the co-main event of UFC Paris.<\/p>\n

Whittaker’s head kicks made the difference in this contest. Those kicks rocked Vettori more than once and showed that the former champ is the better and more well-rounded fighter. Whittaker also displayed his smarts by scoring a takedown late in the contest and scoring with ground strikes as the final minute of the bout ticked down.<\/p>\n

I don’t know what this win gets Whittaker, as he was already the No. 1 ranked contender in the official UFC middleweight rankings, but his performance against Vettori did n’t hurt him. That’s probably the best Whittaker, who has two losses to current middleweight champ, Israel Adesanya, can ask for. <\/p>\n