Cyril Gane remains unbeaten with unanimous decision on UFC card

By Adam Hill

Las Vegas Review-Journal

4 years ago

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - FEBRUARY 27: (R-L) Ciryl Gane of France punches Jairzinho Rozenstruik of Su ... — LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – FEBRUARY 27: (R-L) Ciryl Gane of France punches Jairzinho Rozenstruik of Suriname in a heavyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on February 27, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – FEBRUARY 27: (R-L) Jairzinho Rozenstruik of Suriname punches Ciryl Gane of France in a heavyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on February 27, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – FEBRUARY 27: (L-R) Ciryl Gane of France kicks Jairzinho Rozenstruik of Suriname in a heavyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on February 27, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – FEBRUARY 27: (L-R) Magomed Ankalaev of Russia punches Nikita Krylov of the Ukraine in a light heavyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on February 27, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – FEBRUARY 27: (R-L) Montana De La Rosa punches Mayra Bueno Silva of Brazil in a flyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on February 27, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – FEBRUARY 27: (L-R) Pedro Munhoz of Brazil punches Jimmie Rivera in a bantamweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on February 27, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – FEBRUARY 27: (R-L) Jimmie Rivera punches Pedro Munhoz of Brazil in a bantamweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on February 27, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – FEBRUARY 27: (R-L) Alex Caceres punches Kevin Croom in a featherweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on February 27, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – FEBRUARY 27: (L-R) Kevin Croom punches Alex Caceres in a featherweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on February 27, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – FEBRUARY 27: (R-L) Mayra Bueno Silva of Brazil knees Montana De La Rosa in a flyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on February 27, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – FEBRUARY 27: (L-R) Nikita Krylov of the Ukraine kicks Magomed Ankalaev of Russia in a light heavyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on February 27, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

Heavyweight contender Cyril Gane didn’t win many style points with his performance in the main event of UFC Fight Night 186 on Saturday night at the Apex.

He did win plenty of rounds.

Gane controlled his fight against feared striker Jairzinho Rozenstruik en route to a unanimous decision to remain undefeated.

Gane used an effective jab to control distance and had Rozenstruik reacting to just about every feint he threw over the 25 minutes. Rozenstruik was hesitant to launch much of an attack, as Gane never let him get comfortable despite long stretches of inactivity from both fighters.

“I didn’t finish the fight, but I managed the fight very well, so I’m happy,” Gane said. “I tried to make a show and was looking for a way to finish the fight, but we know he likes to look for (the one-punch knockout). He did that in his last fight. I knew I had to be careful.”

Gane said he was most proud of proving he could go the distance in what was the first five-round fight of his career.

Bantamweight contender Pedro Munhoz snapped a two-fight losing streak and avenged a 2015 loss with a unanimous decision over Jimmie Rivera.

Munhoz brutalized Rivera’s calf with leg kicks to limit his mobility and earn a more favorable outcome than their first meeting, when Rivera won a split decision. The rematch was a back-and-forth affair that earned both fighters a $50,000 fight-of-the-night bonus.

“Nothing surprising about it. I already knew the type of fight that we were getting in,” Munhoz said. “I knew we were going to put down, we were going to exchange and try to take each other’s head off. That’s the type of fight I like to do.”

Light heavyweight contender Magomed Ankalaev won his sixth straight fight since losing his UFC debut, outlasting Nikita Krylov for a unanimous decision.

Montana de la Rosa and Mayra Bueno Silva fought to a majority draw in a bout Bueno Silva would have won had she not been docked a point in the first round for an intentional fence grab to stop a takedown.

Bueno Silva was dominant in the clinch, and de la Rosa used her wrestling to steal the second round on all three cards with a late takedown.

The fighters joined hands and lobbied UFC president Dana White for a rematch from inside the cage after the scorecards were announced.

A women’s strawweight bout between Angela Hill and Ashley Yoder was postponed when one of Yoder’s cornermen tested positive for COVID-19. The fight was rescheduled for March 13 at UFC Fight Night 187.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.