Ciryl Gane has admitted to being "lazy" by not training before his UFC title fight against Jon Jones was announced.
Gane, 32, competes against UFC legend Jones for the vacant heavyweight title in two weeks. 'Bon Gamin' is a former interim champion who lost out on the chance to win the undisputed title last January at the hands of former undisputed titleholder Francis Ngannou, who recently parted ways with the UFC and vacated his title.
In a shocking admission, Gane revealed that he wasn't training for several months after knocking out Tai Tuivasa in Paris last September to set up a title fight with Jones, which was made official last month. "I only train when a fight is announced. I had my fight against Tuivasa, barely trained since then, and now I’m back it since the Jones fight has been announced," Gane told La Sueur.
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“If I look back at my career, this a regret. I love grappling but unfortunately I’m lazy, that’s the truth. I only train when a fight is announced. I have a lot of media obligations. Professional opportunities outside of the sport. You can’t say no to all these things. I also have to give time to my family, rest well."
Jones, who is widely considered the greatest MMA fighter of ever, hasn't fought in over three years but will now return after the longest hiatus of his fighting career. The 35-year-old has been preparing for a move to heavyweight for almost a decade and will finally debut in the weight class after three years of bulking up in size.
Fans are convinced that Jones' lengthy absence and move up in weight could result in Gane being the first man to beat him in the cage, with the American's controversial disqualification loss in 2009 widely being disregarded by fans. Jones has insisted that Gane is not the most experienced striker he's faced in his UFC career, rating past opponents such as Lyoto Machida and Thiago Santos above the Frenchman.
"I fought many guys who were nasty on their feet. Guys with very intimidating one strike knockout power. I feel pretty comfortable, and this is definitely not a kickboxing match. Wrestling is more than a few take downs, it’s a mentality. I’ll just leave it at that. I feel faster and more explosive. Definitely have the knockout power that I didn’t have before," Jones tweeted.
