Ciryl Gane reveales the key mistake he made that resulted in his loss to Jon Jones

Ciryl Gane has opened up on his submission loss to Jon Jones back in March for the vacant heavyweight title.

Gane was fighting for the undisputed belt for the second time in his career after he had previously lost by decision to Francis Ngannou. Against Jones, the Frenchman entered the scrap with a ton of confidence. However, just moments into the fight, Ciryl Gane says he made a big mistake by throwing a big overhand punch that Jones used to get him down to the ground.

“I don’t know why exactly, but I cannot manage my distance very well during some moments, and I did a mistake,” Ciryl Gane said to MMAJunkie. “It wasn’t possible to manage the distance, and I did some stuff to break this atmosphere, and I did a mistake at this moment. Maybe he knew already I’m going to do this mistake, and he took his opportunity. … During all the camp Fernand Lopez told me every time we started training, jab and no big hand. Just jab. And what I did? A big hand. Big mistake, and he took the opportunity.”

‘He was not fast’

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Once Jon Jones got Ciryl Gane down to the ground, he quickly got in a submission and forced the Frenchman to tap. Although it was a quick loss, Gane says he wasn’t surprised by Jones’ strength or grappling abilities, as he was well prepared for that, but the mistake that allowed the fight to get to the mat was the real reason he lost.

Along with that, Ciryl Gane believes he was having success on the feet as he says Jon Jones wasn’t as fast as he thought he would be. But, not managing his distance and getting taken down ruined any chance of that.

“He was not fast,” Gane said. “Maybe he was not fast, but I was not good, too. I didn’t manage my distance. I was not good, but I remember he was not fast.  He didn’t have fast hands. He had power because he touched me, I don’t remember where, but he landed some punches with power, but not fast.”