CIRYL GANE has responded to fan and fighter claims that he’s a “cheater”.

Over the years, the Frenchman has been plagued with allegations of being a deliberately “dirty” fighter.

But they well and truly ramped up after his last two outings to the Octagon.

Gane’s crack at the heavyweight title against Tom Aspinall last October ended in a No Contest due to his horrific double eye poke on the Brit in the dying embers of the first round of their Abu Dhabi dust-up.

Aspinall, who is still sidelined following FOUR SURGERIES on his optics, branded Gane a “big cheater” a few weeks having his head turned into a human bowling ball.

Gane would face yet more backlash from fight fans following his White House win over Alex Pereira, whom he stopped in the second round of their presidential punch-up.

Pereira was furious with several strikes which landed on the back of his head, although most of them were thrown in motion and weren’t deliberately aimed at the prohibited area.

Gane is all too aware of the narrative surrounding his fighting stye but couldn’t care less about his detractors’ thoughts.

In an interview with RMC, ‘Bon Gamin’ said: “There’s not much you can say to attack me.

“I’m confident in who I am when I look in a mirror. I’m okay the same way.

“Also he will want to say that I am a cheater, etc.

“Good, it’s all the same when I look at myself in the mirror. I know I’m not a cheater.”

Gane’s maiden defence of the 265lbs belt, which will see him throw down with Josh Hokit this weekend in the main event of UFC 344 at Madison Square Garden, will see him bid to win his first undisputed title fight.

The Parisian puncher lost his first two title fights with Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones via unanimous decision and first-round submission, respectively.

And his third shot at the belt against Aspinall, whose fighting future is well and truly up in the air, ended in a no contest.