5 potential opponents for Ciryl Gane after his latest setback

#2. Ciryl Gane vs. Stipe Miocic

Miocic is ranked No.2 with a record of 20-4

While he was hardly mentioned when Cyril Gane fought on Saturday, Stipe Miocic has been consistent in stating his desire to exclusively fight for UFC gold at this stage of his career. With that being the case, this fight would only be able to happen in the event that the UFC is looking for an interim title fight.

If that does end up being the scenario in the heavyweight decision, this could well be the fight to make. 'Bon Gamin' came close to winning the undisputed gold on Saturday and Stipe Miocic is largely considered to be the greatest UFC heavyweight in history. Miocic has not fought since losing the title to Ngannou at UFC 260 in March 2021.

This would be a massive new matchup atop the heavyweight division. However, in an ideal world, the UFC would pay Francis Ngannou what he wants to avoid an interim bout. Another possible issue is that an interim bout between Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones might be even more appealing.

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#1. Ciryl Gane vs. Curtis Blaydes

Blaydes is ranked No.4 with a record of 15-3 (1 NC)

Curtis Blaydes may not be nearly as big a name as Stipe Miocic, but he might make more sense as Ciryl Gane's next opponent. Blaydes has only ever lost to Derrick Lewis and Francis Ngannou, is ranked No.4 in the division and would provide Gane with a chance to show he's learned from his loss.

This is because Curtis Blaydes might just possess the best wrestling of any heavyweight on the roster. Given grappling was the Frenchman's undoing in his last fight, seeing if he is able to deal with that threat would be a great way to build towards a second shot at the gold.

Blaydes provides 'Bon Gamin' with a highly ranked opponent and an opportunity to show that out-wrestling the Frenchman is not going to work every time. This is hugely important to the future of his career at heavyweight and so a fight with Blaydes could be the perfect next step.