Gane vs Spivak Prediction: Who Will Be The Next Heavyweight Contender?

The former interim UFC heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane will face Serghei Spivak in the main event of UFC Paris. Their fight will take place on September 2, 2023, at the Accor Arena in Paris, France. Here is our Gane vs Spivak prediction.

UFC Paris: Gane vs Spivak Prediction

Ciryl Gane Preview

Ciryl Gane is the former Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion and a former TKO Heavyweight Champion.

Before his recent defeats, it seemed that Ciryl Gane was the future of the heavyweight division. He looked like a complete fighter even with the little experience he had. Until he met Francis Ngannou, he was unbeaten. And he performed fairly well against the champion for five rounds. And since Ngannou left the UFC and the title remained up for grabs, he faced the returning Jon Jones and got obliterated in the 1st round.

In the past, he outwitted Tuivasa and Volkov and knocked out Lewis. The list is decent, but now Gane has to prove once again that he is ready to become the number 1 contender.

And for this, Ciryl has to be quicker and more clinical. Gane needs to break Spivak with his jab as quickly as possible, but at the same time not to fall into his clinch, and even more so not to be transferred to the ground.

Ciryl will throw a lot of low and middle kicks to the body, with which he is able to “bend” even the toughest fighter. And, of course, now he looks much more accurate than Serghei, so Gane has every chance to take the fight by decision without any problems.

In addition to his advanced technique, he has impressive speed, footwork, and endurance for the heavyweight division. Due to these qualities, he seriously outplays his opponents in the standing position. We would like to note the fighter's well-placed defense against takedowns. Only Francis Ngannou, thanks to his serious superiority in physical strength, could transfer him to the ground and keep him there.

But before we get to the actual Gane vs Spivak prediction, let's take a look at Gane's opponent.

Serghei Spivac Preview

Before the UFC, Spivac had experience in the World Warriors Fighting Championship, Eagles Fighting Championship, N1 Pro Nomad MMA, and Real Fight Promotion tournaments. He is also a former WWFC Champion. He has 16 wins and 3 defeats.

In his last three fights, Spivak cut down Greg Hardy, and Augusto Sakay and submitted Derrick Lewis in a row. Once upon a time, it would have been impressive but when you understand the level of all these opponents in the “now”, it is not that hard to achieve. Let's be honest, the last really dangerous fighter that Sergey stopped was Tai Tuivasa.

And now Spivak is jumping into the top 3 and is preparing, if not to become a contender, then at least get closer to the coveted title chance.

Serghei has a good wrestling base, thanks to which he transfers opponents well to the ground, exercises control, and looks for an opportunity to end the fight ahead of schedule. In the stand, Spivak relies primarily on his brute force.

Serghei's main task is not to try to flirt with Gane in the standing position, and even more so not to even try to repeat his footwork. The best thing Spivak can do is to have a defensive and luring 1st round.

The only chance for the Moldavan to win is to finish in the first 3 rounds. If he can clinch the Frenchman, arrange his favorite sweep, and keep him on the ground for a long time, he will quickly exhaust the huge Gane, who will involuntarily have to seriously slow down.

He has no chance of survival if Gane keeps him on his feet. Serghei has no boxing background and his defense is practically nonexistent.

With this said, we can continue with our Gane vs Spivak prediction.

Ciryl Gane vs Serghei Spivak: The Moldovan is not ready for this challenge

No matter how Serghei progresses, he is still far from the level of Ciryl. Gane may have lost against Ngannou and literally, the greatest fighter in history, Jon Jones, but Spivak wouldn't have even stood a chance against them.

All that can be hoped for by Spivak is his wrestling but we suspect that he won't be able to keep Gane on the ground for long and will quickly get a lot of dangerous and accented hits on the way out.

Moreover, Ciryl does not have to finish his opponent and take risks. He generally does not do that well either. He is not particularly gifted with strength and typically wins his matches after the third round. If he can work at a comfortable pace and interrupt Serghei at a distance, he will take the fight by decision once again.