Ciryl Gane knocked out Tai Tuivasa inside three rounds at the Accor Arena in Paris to set up a potential rematch with Francis Ngannou.

Gane and Tuivasa put on an instant classic at UFC Fight Night 209, with both fighters sustaining some serious damage throughout.

Tuivasa went into the fight in the French capital as the underdog, but proved to be a lot tougher than many had expected heading into the contest.

However it was the Frenchman who got his hand raised in front of his home crowd, hurting Tuivasa with a body shot in the first round in Paris before finishing him off with a combination of strikes in the third.

JUST IN: UFC Paris results: Ciryl Gane takes out Tai Tuivasa in three rounds at the Accor Arena

And he proved his mettle as he recovered from a flash knockdown in the second round to do the business and cap off an incredible night for French MMA.

As expected Gane's elite kickboxing skills gave him the upper hand against Tuivasa, using his footwork to keep himself out of harm's way for the majority of the fight.

WATCH: Ciryl Gane and Tai Tuivasa took part in one of the greatest rounds in MMA history at UFC Paris

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But as he backed up against the cage he was caught with a clean right hand which sent him crashing to the canvas in the second round.

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Gane showed his incredible recovery by quickly getting back to his feet and was able to walk back to his corner unaided for the break between rounds.

When they met again in round three, Gane went back to targeting Tuivasa's body, landing numerous hard body kicks and jabs.

To his credit Tuivasa kept throwing punches, but by that stage he was always one step behind Gane, who took the wind out of his sails with one particularly nasty-looking kick.

In the end, the writing was on the wall for the UFC fan favourite as he continued to be cracked with a barrage of strikes from all sorts of angles.

Tuivasa put in a fine performance, but was eventually knocked out after being battered, bloodied and bruised by the former interim heavyweight champion.

After the fight Gane said: “Honestly Tai hit me so hard, he knocked me out.

“He put the lights out, I fell down, but I had to be a warrior.

"I got up and that’s what I did. I came back even stronger and I got the win.”