Tom Aspinall believes Serghei Spivac is being counted out too much against Ciryl Gane.
Spivac (16-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) meets former interim heavyweight champion Gane (11-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 226 main event at Accor Arena in Paris. The event streams on ESPN+.
Gane will look to rebound from his quick submission loss to Jon Jones at UFC 285. Aspinall (13-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC), who will be in attendance for the fight, holds a quick TKO finish over Spivac. But he thinks Spivac’s grappling could pose problems for Gane.
“He does not like another guy on top of him roughing him up,” Aspinall said of Gane on the “Fight Disciples” podcast. “There’s no answer to it. That’s why he does a lot of flicking in and out movements, which, granted, he’s very, very good at. But against someone like Spivac, who’s a front-foot fighter, who’s a strong grappler, you need to get him on the back foot.
“So, I don’t think this fight’s as one-sided as a lot of people are thinking. A lot of people are going out there thinking, ‘Oh yeah, Ciryl Gane’s a lot better than him.’ Granted, he looks a lot better, he’s a better striker, he’s definitely a better mover, his punches are more accurate, he’s probably more of a complete fighter than Spivac is. But stylistically it’s a bad matchup for Ciryl Gane.”
According to BetMGM, Spivac is a +140 underdog, meaning a $100 bet on the Moldovan fighter would win $140 profit. Gane is a -165 favorite, meaning a $165 bet would be needed on “Bon Gamin” to return $100 profit.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 226.
