The UFC makes its way to Paris on Saturday, September 3rd. A card that is highly anticipated and could very well have been a pay-per-view card solely because of the headliner. Arguably two of the most exciting heavyweights to watch square off for what has to be a title-eliminator bout.
Tuivasa fought his last fight in Houston, Texas where he took on Derrick Lewis-a Houston bred knockout machine. The bout was never going to get past the third round with these two heavy hitters. The majority of picks laid on the side of the 'Black Beast' who holds the records for most knockouts in the UFC but Tai 'Bam Bam' Tuivasa had other plans. He knocked out Lewis out with an elbow in the second round and sat him down in front of his own fans.
However, by the end of the night the arena would be filled with newly acquired "Bam Bam' fans. As he does, Tai 'shoey'd his way out of the arena.(he takes a shoe, fills it with beer, and drinks it gross but its his thing)
Tai this time takes on Ciryl Gane, who is quite possibly the most technical heavyweight in the world right now. The former interrim heavyweight champion faced his first defeat against Francis Ngannou, the current heavyweight king. In a weird bout, Francis was forced to wrestle Gane instead of using his well-attributed power.
I have not seen Tai utilize his wrestling much, he is known for standing toe-to-toe with opponents and putting them to sleep. He could very well catch Gane, but I believe the technicality of 'Bon Gamin' will be too much for Tuivasa and Gane will win by decision or a finish in the later rounds. If Tuivasa does come away with the victory, it will be in the early rounds and it will be a knockout.
As a frenchman (who was born and lives in the US lol my family has French ancestry) I am hoping for 'Bon Gamin' to get his hand raised in his hometown of Paris, but I would be lying if I said it is easy to root against Tai Tuivasa. The fan favorite always brings it. The crowd will definitely be pro-Gane, but soon enough there will be Tuivasa fans in France.
I think whoever wins this bout gets the next heavyweight title-shot UNLESS Jon Jones comes back and beats Stipe. Dana will surely want to give the goat a run at the title.
Written by Joe Gee
Top comments (2)
I think Gane is the more refined fighter here. Tuivasa is explosive for sure and you never quite know what is going to happen but Gane has too many tools at his disposal.
If he can avoid a KO (I don't think he has one on his record) I can see him causing Tuivasa allsorts of issues post round one and then winning on points.
Yeah, I agree with this pretty much completely. I see Gane getting caught with one or two big ones but in a world where a genuinely smart counter-striker with power like Francis Ngannou couldn't put Gane in serious danger, I don't see the less technical and athletic Tuivasa doing it.
One of those things in Heavyweight MMA where truly anything can happen but there's a pretty strong likelihood that Tai not being the crowd favourite for the first time in forever, being slower and less technical than his opponent probably results in him losing a clear decision