Ciryl Gane’s one win over an ex-UFC champion left defeated legend furious: ‘It’s not OK!’

Ciryl Gane was branded a ‘dirty fighter’ by Junior dos Santos after controversial UFC 256 stoppage

After wins over Raphael Pessoa, Don’Tale Mayes, and Tanner Boser to kick off his UFC career, Ciryl Gane was handed a sizable step up in competition. He shared the cage with Dos Santos at UFC 256, a pay-per-view headlined by Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno’s flyweight war.

Gane stopped Dos Santos in round two, but the result was staunchly disputed by the Brazilian and his team, who insisted the finish was set up by an illegal elbow to the back of the head.

In a post-fight statement on social media, a furious ‘Cigano’ made his case.

“The elbow that knocked me out was illegal,” Dos Santos said. “If you watch the fight, there’s no other understanding possible, but this is not what’s happening among these ‘MMA specialists’ out there.

“His elbow was the contact point and it hit me right at the back of my head which is illegal and there’s a reason why blows to the back of the head are prohibited in MMA and there’s no reason that prohibition shouldn’t be enforced.

“I don’t think it was intentional by Gane, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t illegal,” he continued. “It completely changed the fight in a way that’s not OK with me and should not be OK with anyone who cares about our sport and our safety.

“I feel bad that this situation takes away the shine of this victory, but it’s also not OK.”

Despite initially absolving Gane of any blame for what he deemed an illegal shot, the Brazilian seemingly changed his tune a couple of years later.

Dos Santos took issue with another strike during Gane’s knockout victory over Tai Tuivasa, and this time, he laid into the Frenchman.

“What a dirty fighter this Gane is,” Dos Santos wrote on X. “Again hitting the back of the head. And now what are those ‘fight experts’ [sic] will say about it?”

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Ciryl Gane has made a ‘selfish’ sacrifice for Tom Aspinall fight at UFC 321

Gane’s triumph against Dos Santos came during his undefeated run to the interim title and a first shot at the undisputed crown.

As well as being defeated by Francis Ngannou, Gane has since been submitted by Jon Jones to make it zero wins from two undisputed title fights in the UFC.

With that in mind, ‘Bon Gamin’ has gone above and beyond in preparation for what many believe could be his final shot against Tom Aspinall at UFC 321.

“I’ve made some selfish choices for this camp,” Gane told TNT Sports. “I’ve not seen my family for almost three months. Sometimes, you have to make these choices for your life.

“But I know that if I go home with the belt, I’m going to be a happy father. Everyone in my family knows this, so they are OK with that,” he added.