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Australians Tai Tuivasa and Robert Whittaker will headline a historic card as the UFC heads to Paris for the first time on Sunday morning [AEST].
Tuivasa (8-3 UFC) is on an incredible winning tear, having knocked out his past five opponents, including Derrick Lewis in his most recent statement.
The Australian heavyweight now has a chance to only further press his title claims against Ciryl Gane as he looks to spoil the party for the French fighter.
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“He would probably be one of the most elusive, maybe, fighters with his speed and his movement,” Tuivasa said of Gane.
“But if I dink him, I sink him. If I dink them, I sink them. If I hit you flush, then – don’t worry about the cardio, don’t worry about none of that. You’re going to bed.
“We all know he’s a great athlete. He’s really fast and all this. But I excel in the cage. Once the cage doors shut, it’s only me and him. As much as people keep telling me I have to worry about Ciryl, I think Ciryl’s got a bit to worry about from me, too.”
UFC boss Dana White said earlier in the week that the winner of Sunday’s main event is “right there” in the heavyweight title picture.
“First of all, I don’t make the fight before the fight,” White told MMA Underground.
“I mean, anything is possible. But, yeah, we don’t know how any of this is going to play out because the heavyweight champ is still hurt anyway, so I don’t know, but obviously whoever wins on Saturday is right there.”
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As for Whittaker (14-4 UFC), he is eyeing his own shot at the title, although his chances of getting another bite are complicated by the fact he has lost twice to current champion Israel Adesanya.
Another win though will do his hopes no harm, with the Australian facing the tough Marvin Vettori, who had a few interesting things to say about Whittaker earlier this week.
“He’s definitely very good, but with that being said, he’s the same fighter he was a year ago, the same fighter he was in his last fight – I’m not,” Vettori said.
“I keep improving, I’m more hungry. I’m on my way up, I don’t believe he is. That’s the difference here.”
Whittaker though certainly disagreed with that assessment and has a chance to prove it on Sunday.
“He’s wrong. I think I am improving,” Whittaker said.
“I think there are hard facts that prove I am improving. I think the wins behind going up is hard evidence that I’m improving. I think the way that second fight with Adesanya went is hard evidence that I’m proving, so I think that I’m getting better.
“I think he’s underestimating how good I am, how fast I am, how hard I hit, and I think that will come out on Saturday [local time].”
HOW TO WATCH
You can watch UFC Fight Night: Gane vs Tuivasa LIVE with ESPN on Kayo. If you are new to Kayo, you can start your free trial now >
START TIME
The preliminary fights start at 2am with the main card kicking off around 5am, including Tuivasa and Whittaker. Of course, when exactly they walk out will depend on the earlier fights.
UFC FIGHT NIGHT: GANE VS TUIVASA — MAIN CARD
Ciryl Gane vs Tai Tuivasa — Heavyweight
Robert Whittaker vs Marvin Vettori — Middleweight
Nassourdine Imavov vs Joaquin Buckley — Middleweight
Roman Koplyov def. Alessio Di Chirico — via KO — Middleweight
William Gomis def. Jarno Errens — via majority decision (29-28 x 2, 29-29) — Featherweight
Nathaniel Wood def. Charles Jourdain — via unanimous decision (30-27 x 2, 29-28) — Featherweight
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