Hometown hero Ciryl Gane did his country proud as he knocked out Tai Tuivasa at the UFC's inaugural event in Paris.
Former interim heavyweight champion Gane had one thing in mind from the opening bell, stay out the way of Tuivasa's power. That worked for the first round, but the Frenchman was dropped by a big overhand in the second. Gane recovered to hurt Tuivasa with a series of kicks as both men came close to being finished. In the third round, Gane put Tuivasa down with two right hands and followed up with a flurry of punches on the ground to force the stoppage.
Gane thanked the French crowd for their overwhelming support in his post-fight interview, whilst Tuivasa also received a huge cheer as he brought his son into cage after the loss. 'Bon Gamin' insisted he wanted another shot at the heavyweight belt after losing out to former training partner and current champion Francis Ngannou at UFC 270 in January.
In the co-main event, Robert Whittaker affirmed his status as the second-best middleweight in the world by outpointing fellow top contender Marvin Vettori. Whittaker was the superior fighter over the three rounds, beating Vettori to the punch and landing the harder strikes throughout. The main card also saw Gane's teammate Nassourdine Imavov prove why he is one of the most promising stars in the UFC, besting Joaquin Buckley in a back and forth fight.
Alessio Di Chirico was left face first on the canvas against Roman Kopylov, as the Russian put together a perfect sequence of punches to end the fight in the final round. William Gomis survived a last-gasp submission attempt to outpoint Jarno Errens, whilst Nathaniel Wood picked up his second win his six weeks as he outclassed Charles Jourdain in all areas to also win a decision.
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Elsewhere on the prelims, Abusupiyan Magomedov shined in his UFC debut, scoring an 18-second knockout over Dustin Stoltzfus. Benoit Saint-Denis was the first Frenchman to pick up a win on the night, receiving a huge roar from the Paris crowd when he knocked out Gabriel Miranda in the second round.
Stephanie Egger became the first UFC fighter to record a win in France as she submitted Ailin Perez, who got a lot of attention for twerking onstage, with a rear-naked choke in the opening fight of the night. There were also decision wins for Fares Ziam and Nasrat Haqparast.
