Ciryl Gane is prepping for one of the biggest fights of his life and is now turning up the training.
The UFC heavyweight title will be up for grabs at UFC 285. The belt was vacated by Francis Ngannou when he decided to leave the UFC to pursue opportunities elsewhere. Ready to jump right in was Ciryl Gane who will be taking on former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones in just a few weeks’ time. Leading up to this bout some may have assumed that Gane would be training no-stop but that does not seem to be the case. In fact, he only began training when the fight was booked.
Gane came into the UFC back in 2019 in just his fourth professional MMA fight. He immediately began turning heads but is now giving a peak behind the curtain at how little he actually trains.
Ciryl Gane will only begin training when a fight is announced
Gane has found immense success since joining the UFC. His only loss so far has been against the former champ Ngannou. With this fight against Jones, he will be up against the man who reigns as number one on many people’s greatest of all time list. Despite that fact, Gane recently revealed that he only trains when a fight is coming up.
“I love grappling,” Gane said to La Sueur. “But unfortunately, I’m lazy, that’s the truth. I only train when a fight is announced. I have a lot of media obligations. Professional opportunities outside of the sport. You can’t say no to all these things. I also have to give time to my family, rest well.”
It has been nearly five months since his last bout in the UFC. Now with a huge PPV main event coming up with the belt on the line, Gane says he hasn’t trained much at all.
“If I look back at my career, this a regret: I only train when a fight is announced,” Gane said. “I had my fight against Tuivasa (in September), barely trained since then, and now I’m back at it since the Jones fight has been announced.”
On the flip side, Jones has been training a lot. He took nearly three years away from the UFC to pack on weight for his heavyweight debut. Jones has been seen on social media training with some of the best fighters and coaches in the sport. He has mentioned that he is taking his return seriously as should Gane.
Quotes via MMA Junkie.