Ciryl Gane explains his now-famous shocked expression inside the cage after Jon Jones submission - "It's a nightmare!"

Ciryl Gane challenged Jon Jones for the heavyweight title, which had been left vacant by Francis Ngannou's departure, at UFC 285 in March. Considering Gane had already been out-grappled by Ngannou, many expected him to fare similarly or worse against an elite grappler like 'Bones.'

However, no one anticipated the level of domination Jones would display in making quick work of 'Bon Gamin'. After gauging his range and instance in the initial minute, Jones successfully took the Frenchman down on his first attempt. 'Bones' took hardly over two minutes to lock in a guillotine and force the tap as Gane slumped down in the corner of the cage, seemingly too stupefied to react.

Ciryl Gane recently weighed in on the infamous look of bewilderment on his face after his UFC 285 loss to Jon Jones. 'Bon Gamin' honestly acknowledged it for exactly what it was, a shock that felt like a nightmare. The 33-year-old told UFC presenter John Gooden:

"I was really happy to be here to fight. And boom, three minutes. It was a bad moment. It was a really bad moment. At this moment, when he did it, I remember I stay in the cage like, 'It's a nightmare! No, it's the reality'. Fernand Lopez came out directly to catch me, 'Brother, hey, you good?'...It's like that. What you gonna do. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's wrong. We gotta go back to the gym."

Catch Gane's comments below:

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Ciryl Gane details the exact mistake that led to his loss against Jon Jones

Considering the impact it had on him, Ciryl Gane has probably played the Jon Jones loss in his mind over and over again. 'Bon Gamin' even claims to have figured out the exact mistake he made that led to the takedown and eventually finishing sequence.

The Frenchman admitted that he sometimes has trouble managing distance, which is to be expected against a master of the craft like Jones. It was to compensate for the distance that Gane threw a looping left hook against the advice of his corner, immediately ending up with his back on the canvas. The 33-year-old told MMA Junkie:

"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."

Ciryl Gane is scheduled to return to the octagon at UFC Paris next weekend against surging heavyweight KO artist Serghei Spivac.