No one will beat Ciryl Gane again in the UFC

Ciryl Gane is the new undisputed UFC heavyweight champion. He will defend his title against rising star Josh Hokit at UFC 334, and he should be heavily favored to win. If he does, there's a strong possibility that Gane might never lose again, at least not until he starts to physically decline.

The Ciryl Gane puzzle that heavyweights can't solve

Heavyweight has, historically, been one of the lowest skilled divisions in the UFC. That is even truer today than in most other eras. It's such a wasteland of talent thast outside of the top five, there is almost no one noteworthy. A large chunk, no pun intended, of heavyweights outside of the top five are also in subpar physical shape. There are more fighters like Tai Tuivasa than there are fighters like Ciryl Gane and Tom Aspinall. So, what exactly is such a division supposed to do against a hyper-athletic, highly skilled fighter like Gane? Especially a Gane who was handling a fellow highly skilled, hyper-athletic heavyweight in Aspinall before he fouled him at UFC 321.

Nothing.

In the striking department, Gane is essentially unbeatable at heavyweight. He's a mobile fighter, with exceptional lateral movement, so he's very difficult to pressure and pin against the fence because he'll keep circling and use fake outs to trick his opponent into committing to a strike at the worst possible angle for them. His jab is a powerful sniper, just ask Alex Pereira. And at his height, with his distance management, he'll walk fighters onto his jab all day. His straights are similarly dangerous, and anyone who tries to rush in ends up running into an intercepting elbow. There's also Gane's punishing front kick to the body, that stabs into the midsection, dealing serious damage and draining his opponent's gas tank.

Outside of towering strikers like Alexander Volkov, who did well against him at UFC 310, no one can strike with Gane, who also fought with a broken foot that night, hampering his mobility. Even a decorated, all-time great kickboxer like Pereira was thoroughly outclassed on the feet at UFC Freedom 250. It turns out, walking a fighter down and slipping their punches doesn't work as well against a larger, powerful, and faster striker who moves well. Then there's the athleticism. Gane is the fastest heavyweight in the division, with fellow fast heavyweights like Aspinall struggling with his speed. He's also strong, with good cardio, agility, and underrated power. It's a combination of attributes that no other heavyweight has.

But what about his wrestling and grappling? They've been Gane's weak points, at least historically. He was outwrestled and submitted in round one by Jon Jones at UFC 285. Before that, he was outwrestled to a unanimous decision loss by Francis Ngannou at UFC 270. However, he's since improved his defensive wrestling, as even Aspinall could not take him down. Furthermore, Jones is retired and Ngannou is unlikely to ever fight in the UFC again. Aspinall, who has a chance of beating him, just vacated the heavyweight title, promoting Gane from interim to undisputed champion, due to complications with his eye. Whether he'll ever fight again is a question many are asking. With Aspinall out of the picture, who is there at heavyweight to challenge Gane?

Josh Hokit will have his chance at UFC 334, but despite his well-rounded skillset, he has nothing for the Frenchman. He's a small heavyweight, slower than Gane, with poor defensive striking, and one-round cardio. Sure, he has a serious wrestling threat, but at his size, he'll likely struggle to hold Gane down, especially since Gane has improved his defensive wrestling. On the feet, Hokit has nothing more than a 1-2 and hooks. He'll struggle to find his range against Gane and won't land anything of note before gassing out after a round of running into jabs and getting blasted in the gut by front kicks. 

There's Volkov, but he'll have to get on a win streak first, and he might no do as well against a Gane without a broken foot, since he previously lost to him via unanimous decision at UFC Vegas 30. Sergei Pavlovich is powerful but too sloppy on the feet. He'll get sniped and taken apart, and Curtis Blaydes' wrestling isn't nearly as good as it's made out to be. He'll be outstruck as well. Then there's Waldo Cortes Acosta, who moves well and has a good jab, but that's about it. As things stand, there is no one who can beat Gane, and until age catches up to him and takes away some of his speed, it's likely he'll ever lose.