Junior Dos Santos didn’t stay quiet.
The former UFC heavyweight champion took to Twitter on Sunday morning to call out Ciryl Gane for an illegal strike used in his finish of Tai Tuivasa on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 209.
Gane stopped Tuivasa in the third round of the main event after a thrilling back-and-forth war. In the final sequence, Gane appears to strike Tuivasa in the back of the head with a right hammerfist. Upon replay, cageside commentator Michael Bisping described the strike as being to “the back of the head.”
Dos Santos lost to Gane in December 2020 at UFC 256 and complained afterward back then about getting hit in the back of the head. He wasn’t happy with what he saw in the Tuivasa fight.
“What a dirty fighter this Gane is,” Dos Santos wrote on Twitter. “Again hitting the back of the head. And now what are those ‘fight experts’ [sic] will say about it?”
Que cara sujo esse Gane
De novo batendo na nuca, o que esses “especialistas” vão dizer agora?
.
What a dirty fighter this Gane is
Again hitting the back of the head
Nad now what are those “fight experts” will say about it? @ufc @danawhite pic.twitter.com/EP6NUlwmWs— Junior Dos Santos 🅾️➕ (@junior_cigano) September 4, 2022
It’s worth noting that Tuivasa was badly hurt prior to the shot. Still, the illegal strike is pretty clear. There was no mention of the shot by referee Marc Goddard or even a protest by Tuivasa following the fight.
In his own experience, Dos Santos was upset about his loss to Gane and claimed the TKO was the result of an illegal elbow to the back of his head.
“I feel bad that this situation takes away the shine of this victory, but it’s also not OK,” Dos Santos said back in December 2020. “(It’s) not right to expect me to take a loss from an illegal blow. I hope you guys agree with me. I know my situation isn’t good in the organization, but that’s not the reason to suddenly stop enforcing rules or stop ensuring my safety inside the cage.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 209.
