Two former UFC titleholders are coming to the defense of Ciryl Gane amid a cheater label.

Some believe that Gane has bent the rules in his favor in past fights, particularly with eye pokes and illegal strikes. “Bon Gamin†came under fire for his double eye poke foul against Tom Aspinall, who still hasn't fought since Oct. 2025 due to his injuries. Gane was also scrutinized for landing illegal elbows to the back of Alex Pereira's head in their UFC Freedom 250 fight back in June.

While some have called Gane a cheater, former rivals Dominick Cruz and TJ Dillashaw disagree with that notion. During a recent edition of the “Love & War Podcast,†Cruz said that during his fighting days, he'd take the blame himself if he was ever got poked in the eye (via MMAFighting).

“I always said if you can poke me in my f*cking eye, I'm doing something wrong,†Cruz said. “You can punch me in my head. Trying to my head is so f*cking hard, if you can poke me in the eye, that's my problem, so we agree on that and I think that's why he's not a cheater.â€

Dillashaw agreed with Cruz, saying that he thinks people have the wrong idea about Gane over his accidental fouls.

“I don't think he is [a cheater],†Dillashaw said. “It's gotten blown out of the water since the Pereira fight. Obviously, everyone's a Pereira fan and they wanted him to win and they want to call the illegal blows. He wasn't going for it on purpose and Pereira's moving his head as he's hitting those. I think Herb Dean's unfortunately catching a lot of flack as well, too.â€

Gane was promoted as the UFC heavyweight champion due to Aspinall remaining sidelined. He will put his gold at stake against Josh Hokit in the UFC 334 main event on Nov. 14 in New York City.

Do you think the cheater label towards Ciryl Gane is unfair, or have you seen enough fouls to the point where it's justified? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM

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I don’t know if we’ve collectively come down from the high of UFC 333, but we’ve got APEX action this weekend with Renato Moicano and Tom Nolan headlining UFC Vegas 123.

Moicano vs. Nolan falls into one of 2026’s matchmaking trends, that of the longtime contender vs. the streaking up and comer. When we last saw Moicano, he was snapping a two-fight losing streak with an impressive win over Chris Duncan in the UFC Vegas 115 main event; now, he defends his top 15 spot again against the rising Tom Nolan, who has won five straight fights after a stoppage loss in his UFC debut.

Can “Money” slow down “Big Train” on Saturday night?

Paulo
Costa has renewed his criticism of fighter pay in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.

A resurfaced clip shows UFC middleweight champion Sean
Strickland asking former light heavyweight champion Quinton
“Rampage” Jackson about his biggest UFC payday. Jackson said he
earned $7 million, including pay-per-view compensation, for
fighting Chuck
Liddell. Costa contrasted that figure with his estimate of what
a current UFC fighter earns.

Paulo Costa compares Rampage Jackson’s claimed $7 million
payday with estimated Raoni Barcelos earnings

Jackson attributed the payday to a contract he signed with World
Fighting Alliance, where he said his manager also had a promotional
role. According to Jackson, the deal included lucrative
pay-per-view terms that the UFC inherited when its parent company
acquired WFA assets in December 2006.

“$7 million, Chuck Liddell, that was pay-per-view, though,†Jackson
told Strickland. “I left
Pride. My manager, he became like the manager of the show. So,
he knew exactly that it was his biggest deal. They didn't want to
have pay-per-view, so he gave me a crazy pay-per-view deal. Then
Dana White bought WFA and had to honor my pay-per-view deal.â€

Costa compared Jackson's account with Raoni
Barcelos' stoppage loss to Raul Rosas
Jr. last month. Barcelos, 39, lost consciousness during a
fifth-round grappling exchange. Costa speculated that Barcelos
earned between $80,000 and $100,000, contrasting that estimate with
Jackson's claimed earnings from his 2007 victory over Liddell.

“UFC paid Rampage 7 million to fight Chuck what is comprehensive,â€
Costa wrote on X. “Not comparing fighters relevance but comparing
it with Barcelos x Rosas Jr 5 rds and had serious injuries on brain
damage, made 80k~100k ?? Raoni Barcelos is around 40s and probably
retired due to that injury.â€

UFC paid RAMPAGE 7 million to fight CHUCK
what is comprehensive. Not comparing fighters relevance but
comparing it with Barcelos x Raul RosaJr5 rds and had serious
injuries on brain damage 🧠 made 80k~100k ?? Raoni
Barcelos is around 40s and PROBABLY retired due that injury

— Paulo
Costa (@BorrachinhaMMA)
October 15, 2026