Ciryl Gane’s recent loss to Jon Jones at UFC 285 disappointed many MMA fans, especially those who were excited about Jones’ highly anticipated return to the UFC.
In the fall out, Khabib Nurmagomedov suggested Gane take a couple of years to live in Dagestan and really work on his wrestling.
Gane was outworked in the wrestling department by a Ngannou with one knee in January of 2022 and went on to lose to Jon Jones in the opening sequence of their highly touted match up.
However, ADCC silver medalist Nick Rodriguez has now revealed that he was meant to help Gane prepare for the event.
During episode #17 of The Simple Man podcast, Rodriguez revealed that he was supposed to travel to France to train with Ciryl Gane but was unable to do so due to the financial constraints of the arrangement.
Rodriguez explained on his podcast:
“I was supposed to go to France and train with Ciryl. But the numbers didn’t work out, and I had a bunch of seminars planned, and they weren’t trying to compensate me. It wasn’t necessarily Ciryl, but his manager and whatnot. If he had some proper grappling training, he could’ve done better.”
Rodriguez said that the numbers did not work out, and he had a series of seminars planned that were not being compensated for. While it was not necessarily Gane’s fault, Rodriguez’s inability to train with the Frenchman could have had a significant impact on the outcome of the outing against Jones.
The Impact of Nicky Rodriguez on Gane’s Training Camp
Nicky Rodriguez is a rising star in the BJJ world, having won a silver medal at the ADCC in 2019.
The ADCC is considered the most prestigious submission grappling tournament in the world and is often referred to as ‘The Olympics of BJJ.’
Having someone of Rodriguez’s caliber training with Gane during his camp for Jones could have made a significant difference in Gane’s grappling ability.
He was submitted by a guillotine in under two minutes.
