Tom Aspinall breaks down why Ciryl Gane is a nightmare matchup for Alex Pereira
UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has given his two cents on why Ciryl Gane won’t be easy game for Alex Pereira.
Earlier this year, “Poatan” vacated his light heavyweight throne in pursuit of three-division glory. He will now be locking horns with Ciryl Gane on June 14 at the White House for the interim heavyweight championship.
By law, the winner of this bout is expected to meet Aspinall in a heavyweight title unification bout later this year.
Tom Aspinall explains why he believes Ciryl Gane will beat Alex Pereira at UFC Freedom 250
Tom Aspinall, who’s currently on the sidelines due to double eye surgery, has broken down why he believes Gane beats Pereira on June 14.
On the Fight Your Corner Podcast, Aspinall opined that a big reason why Alex Pereira has knocked out so many opponents at middleweight and light heavyweight is the sheer size difference, as “Poatan” is much bigger than most of the fighters he has faced so far in the UFC.
However, Gane, who’s faced many elite heavyweights before, is accustomed to eating bigger shots and yet surviving.
Aspinall also pointed out that Gane has better footwork than most middleweights and light heavyweights and can also judge distance really well. Lastly, the Brit added that he believes Bon Gamin will get his hand raised by decision on June 14.
“A big factor in why Alex is knocking these guys out is because he’s a lot bigger than them. A guy like Ciryl Gane is used to taking punches from big heavyweights. He didn’t get hurt by Francis Ngannou for five rounds, and he’s one of the biggest punchers in the division.
Also, Alex Pereira looks very good when he fights light heavyweights or middleweights who don’t move a lot. Ciryl Gane is a massive heavyweight who moves a lot, moves really, really well, is really fluid on his feet, in and out, judges the distance really well, and stuff like that. So stylistically, I think it’s a good matchup for Gane…Tough one to call. But I’d say Gane by points. I think he’s just going to move too much for him and beat him on points.”
Tom Aspinall also pointed out during the same sit-down that Ciryl Gane does not have good leg-kick defense. Therefore, if Alex Pereira is going to set up a knockout, he has to slow down Gane’s movement with brutal calf kicks from the first stanza.
Check out Tom Aspinall’s comments below:
