Tai Tuivasa pretends to be hurt by head kick before getting knocked out by Ciryl Gane at historic UFC Paris event

The UFC Paris main event between a technical striker and brutal brawler delivered big time for MMA's premier promotion, which held its first-ever show in France on Saturday night.

Former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane headlined the latest UFC Fight Night alongside Tai Tuivasa in a fight with title implications at the Accor Arena in Paris.

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After he was badly dropped in the second round, Gane worked his way back into the fight and hurt Tuivasa with a series of kicks to the body.

‘Bon Gamin’ then went up high with one of his kicks and it landed flush on the Aussie fighter's jaw. An audible crack echoed around the arena before Tuivasa began to look unsteady on his feet.

As Gane moved in to close the show, ‘Bam Bam’ quickly recovered, planted his feet on the floor, and threw a potentially fight-ending overhand right at the Frenchman.

Long-time middleweight champion Israel Adesanya was one of the many people fooled and impressed by Tuivasa’s antics at UFC Paris.

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"That was cool, though,” Stylebender said during his post-fight breakdown.

“What Tai did the moment he got kicked in the head and he played possum. I really thought… he had me fooled. I was like, 'Oh s***!' And then he f****** hit him, tried to clap him."

Unfortunately, things quickly unravelled for Tuivasa as soon after he pretended to be wobbled, he actually was.

A powerful left hook shook the notorious beer lover down to his boots before Gane followed up with a flurry of strikes to finish the fight.

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After moving to 11-1 in MMA, the top heavyweight contender admitted he felt a bit fortunate to emerge victorious after being ‘knocked out’ by Tuivasa at UFC Paris.

“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,” Gane said post-fight.

Now he wants another title shot after previously falling short in his bid to unify the heavyweight division against his former teammate, Francis Ngannou, at UFC 270 in January.

“No matter who, I go back to the belt, please! I want the belt. That’s all I want,” Gane added.

The heavyweight title picture is a little murky right now as Ngannou is out injured and is yet to re-sign with the UFC after his contract expired earlier this year.

An interim title match-up between former champion Stipe Miocic and light-heavyweight great Jon Jones has been touted for later this year but is not yet official.

So, Gane may have to pick up one more win to earn another UFC title shot.