UFC Fight Night: Gane vs Spivak

Cyril Gane vs Sergey Spivak - Heavyweight Division

The first man to main event a UFC card in France will do so once again as Ciryl Gane will take on Sergey Spivak this Saturday.

Gane, a former interim heavyweight champion, has now fallen short of undisputed gold twice as he looks to rebound from his first-round TKO loss at the hands of Jon Jones that took place in March at UFC 285.

The French-born fighter now has a UFC record of 8-2.

He will be challenged by Sergey Spivak, who comes into this Saturday’s main event having won his last three in a row - all by stoppage.

After back-to-back TKO wins over Greg Hardy and Augusto Sakai, Spivak earned an incredible first-round submission win over heavyweight great Derrick Lewis this past February.

Gane will have the crowd behind him and will also enjoy a two-inch height and three-inch reach advantage. 

However, at just +140 Sergey Spivak is not as big of an underdog as some may think and this main event could shake things up in the heavyweight division where Gane is currently ranked at number-two and Spivak at number-seven.

Manon Fiorot vs Rose Namajunas - Women’s Flyweight Division

The second French-born fighter on the main card, number-three ranked women’s flyweight Manon Fiorot will welcome the former women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas up to the 125-pound division this Saturday.

Fiorot has not lost a fight since her professional debut back in 2018 and has now won ten in a row, including five-straight under the UFC banner.

Rose Namajunas has not fought since May 2022, when she lost her strawweight title to Carla Esparze at UFC 274 in what is, sadly, considered one of the most lackluster fights in UFC history.

Prior to losing her title, she had won three straight, including back-to-back wins against current strawweight champion Zhang Weili.

Both of these women have an equal reach of 65 inches, but the hometown favorite Manon Fiorot will have a two-inch advantage in reach. 

Benoit Saint-Denis vs Thiago Moises - Lightweight Division

French-born southpaw Benoit Saint-Denis looks to build on his current three-fight winning streak this weekend by defeating Thiago Moises.

Saint-Denis recently finished Ismael Bonfim via first-round submission back in July. He has two wins by finish prior to that in 2022 - a submission and a TKO. His three straight wins have fully showcased his black belt in judo and a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

He takes on a fellow grappler this Saturday: BJJ black belt Thiago Moises. 

Clearly no slouch on the ground, Moises has won his last two fights in a row - both by submission. He last fought this past January, submitting Melquizael Costa in the second round of their UFC 282 bout.

Saint-Denis will have the height, reach and hometown advantages this weekend and he is listed as the -155 favorite to win.

Volkan Oezdemir vs Bogdan Guskov - Light Heavyweight Division

It has been five and one-half years since Volkan Oezdemir found himself at the top of the light heavyweight division, challenging Daniel Cormier to the light heavyweight title.

Since his loss to Cormier, Oezdemir has had only mixed success, going just 3-5. He is just 1-3 in his last four fights and is coming off of a unanimous decision loss to Nikita Krylov that took place last October at UFC 280.

This will be Oezdemir’s first fight of 2023 and he will take on the debuting Bogdan Guskov.

Guskov is currently on a four-fight winning streak but this will be his first time entering the UFC octagon. He will have a two-inch height advantage over the former title challenger. 

It is Oezdemir, however, who is listed at -185 to win.

William Gomis vs Yanis Ghemmouri - Featherweight Division

The only two French fighters to face each other on the main card, both William Gomis and Yanis Ghemmouri had their original opponents drop out of their fights. 

Gomis, who has not lost a fight since 2018, is 2-0 in the UFC, having most recently defeated Francis Marshall via split decision back in April.

He takes on Yanis Ghemmouri, a fighter who hasn’t lost since 2015 and who will be making his UFC debut this weekend. He is coming off of a brutal second-round KO via knee at Brave CF 72 this past June. 

Ghemmouri - a former French K1 kickboxing champion - will stand three inches shorter than Gomis. The odds for this last-minute bout have yet to be determined.