Ciryl Gane believes a win over Junior dos Santos earn him a fight against Francis Ngannou

Ciryl Gane expects to fight former teammate, Francis Ngannou in the very near future.

Gane is considered the top heavyweight prospect and will get his toughest test against Junior dos Santos at UFC 256. It is a very intriguing matchup and if Gane wins, he believes it sets him up to fight Ngannou.

“I think now, the division, for me, if I win against Junior, it’s going to be really close in the top-10. You understand it. We can’t avoid it,” Gane said to The Bash MMA. “It’s something that’s will happen anyway, we cannot avoid that fight anyway. It is a sport, it is normal.”

Although Gane and Ngannou are former teammates, the undefeated prospect says he isn’t too close with the top contender. Instead, they have only trained a few times. So, if they end up fighting, it will not be awkward for him.

“No, because when I arrived at the gym, Francis had already left for Vegas,” Gane explained. “I saw Francis a few times when he came back to Paris to prepare for a fight. So, no, I’m not close to Francis now.”

Ciryl Gane is currently 6-0 as a pro but has not fought since last December when he defeated Tanner Boser by decision. Before that, he submitted Don’Tale Mayes by heel hook and in his UFC debut, submitted Raphael Pessoa. The Frenchman is also the former TKO heavyweight champion and won the belt in his pro debut. After defending it twice, he was signed to the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Francis Ngannou, meanwhile, is on a four-fight winning streak and coming off a 20-second KO over Jairzinho Rozenstruik. He is set to fight for the belt, however, the fight has still not been made and the contender is growing frustrated with the lack of fights. So, depending on when Miocic will be ready, perhaps he entertains a fight against Gane.

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