Photo by Alexandre Schneider /Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC
Promising heavyweight prospect Ciryl Gane made the most out of his Octagon debut earlier tonight (Sat., Aug. 10, 2019) at UFC on ESPN+ 14 live on ESPN+ from inside Antel Arena in Montevideo, Uruguay, as he abandoned his striking game to finish Brazilian counterpart Raphael Pessoa via first-round submission (arm-triangle choke).
Gane looked very patient in his first Octagon appearance and it actually allowed Pessoa to bounce around the cage and start to find his own range. That didn’t last too long, though, as Gane’s power proved too much inside. The French prospect quickly moved in, wrapped Pessoa up, and secured a slamming takedown. Gane then moved over into position and locked in a tight arm-triangle choke that forced Pessoa to tap.
Check out the highlights above courtesy of UFC/ESPN.
With this performance, Gane pulls through in his UFC debut and proves that the hype is real. As the main training partner for UFC heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou, Gane is used to competing against the best of the best every day. Pessoa isn’t a pushover, but Gane is going to have to prove himself against better competition moving forward if he plans to test the top 15.
For complete UFC Uruguay results and coverage click here.