Ciryl Gane meets Serghei Spivac in the heavyweight main event of a matinee UFC Fight Night on Saturday afternoon in Paris.
The fights at Accor Arena are on ESPN+, with the 3 p.m. ET main card preceded by prelims at 12:30 p.m.
Gane (11-2) started his career 10-0 but has lost two of his last three fights, both defeats coming in bids for the UFC heavyweight title. Most recently, he was submitted by Jon Jones in barely two minutes in March. Gane, a Frenchman, is No. 3 in the ESPN heavyweight rankings.
The seventh-ranked Spivac (16-3) has won three in a row, all finishes. He choked out Derrick Lewis in February.
The co-main event is a pivotal bout in the women's flyweight division. France's Manon Fiorot (10-1) is ranked No. 3 in the division by ESPN, and Rose Namajunas (11-5) is a former two-time strawweight champion making her 125-pound debut after almost 16 months away from the sport.
How to watch the fights
Watch the fights on ESPN+: Get ESPN+ here.
There's also FightCenter, which offers live updates for every UFC card.
Saturday's UFC fight card
ESPN+, 3 p.m. ET
Heavyweight: Ciryl Gane vs. Serghei Spivac
Women's flyweight: Manon Fiorot vs. Rose Namajunas
Lightweight: Benoit Saint Denis vs. Thiago Moises
Light heavyweight: Volkan Oezdemir vs. Bogdan Guskov
Men's featherweight: William Gomis vs. Yanis Ghemmouri
Men's featherweight: Morgan Charrière vs. Manolo Zecchini
ESPN+, 12:30 p.m. ET
Men's bantamweight: Taylor Lapilus vs. Caolan Loughran
Welterweight: Ange Loosa vs. Rhys McKee
Women's bantamweight: Joselyne Edwards vs. Nora Cornolle
Men's bantamweight: Farid Basharat vs. Kleydson Rodrigues
Women's bantamweight: Zarah Fairn vs. Jacqueline Cavalcanti
Reed Kuhn's betting tip
Gane's striking is elite, and he'll have clear technical advantages over the smaller, sloppier Spivac. But Gane's below-average takedown defense is the biggest liability in this matchup. Spivac succeeds with his ground game, having shown success taking superior strikers down for a finish. However, fighters who could stuff his early takedowns fared much better. Obviously, this has been the focus of Gane's improving MMA skill set, and even if he's limited to just a few standing exchanges at the beginning of rounds, that might be all he needs.
For Kuhn's suggested bets on the main event and other fights on Saturday's card, check out the ESPN+ expert picks and best bets article (link below). It also features analysis by Main Street Boxing and Muay Thai coach Bob Perez as well as ESPN's other betting expert, Ian Parker.
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UFC Fight Night expert picks and best bets: Can Ciryl Gane get back on track vs. Serghei Spivac?