Ciryl Gane (image via UFC/YouTube)

By FCF Staff

There appears to be no shortage of people heaping praise on Ciryl Gane for his dominant performance at UFC 265, and the new interim champ is one of them.

Gane took on Derrick Lewis in the card’s headliner Saturday night, and outstruck the heavy-handed heavyweight from the opening horn. In round three, Gane finished the one-sided outing with a series of strikes.

The bout’s final strike tally was 116 to 16 in favor of Gane.

While talking to the media following his championship win, Gane called his performance a “masterclass” (quotes via MMA Junkie).

“It was a (masterclass),” Gane said. “It was that. He touched me maybe one time (or) two times. He gave me a poke (in my) eyes. My vision was blurring for all of the fight. It was not easy to manage this, but I think it was a masterclass.”

“The feeling was exactly what we expected – exactly what we expected. That’s why he never touched me. He never touched me. Every time, maybe 10 times, it was the right hand. He never touched me 100 percent because we worked on it. Because we expected it. We did (our gameplan) well.”

With the win, the 31-year-old Gane moved his overall record to 10-0. The heavyweight is expected to face champion Francis Ngannou (16-3) next.