UFC 270, the promotion’s first pay-per-view of 2022 is set to take place inside the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on 22nd January featuring a heavyweight title clash between Francis Ngannou who will defend his title for the first time against the interim Heavyweight champion and former training partner, Ciryl Gane.
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Since winning the UFC Heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 260, Francis “The Predator” Ngannou (16-3-0) hasn’t stepped into the octagon and is about to make his first-ever title defense at UFC 270 where he faces the Bon Gamin, Ciryl Gane. The relationship between Ngannou and UFC President Dana White is turbulent as he gets into his final fight of the contract and some believe a standoff over his contract could lead him to leave the UFC rooster.
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As for his opponent Ciryl Gane (10-0-0), he is on a seven-fight win streak and still undefeated in UFC. Bon Gamin’s most recent victory was against Derrick Lewis in which he produced a stunning knockout after 04:11 minutes of round 3 at UFC 265 to win the UFC interim Heavyweight championship and book himself a fight against his former teammate Francis Ngannou to become the undisputed Heavyweight Champion.
Prediction: Ciryl Gane to win on decision
Francis Ngannou | Ciryl Gane | |
35 | Age | 31 |
6'4 | Height | 6'4 |
250 lbs | Weight | 250 lbs |
83’ | Reach | 81’ |
16 - 3 - 0 | Record | 10 - 0 - 0 |
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When it comes down to Francis Nagannou or Ciryl Gane, we have to go with Gane who is on a 7-fight win streak. When it comes to striking, Gane has a wide range of strikes in his arsenal compared to Ngannou. Not only that, the Bon Gamin is better in defense as well. When it comes to the canvas, Gane wins against as he has a better takedown frequency rate and also holds a 100% takedown defense rate.
There is literally no one in the UFC Heavyweight division history who can move the way Gane does and holds a striking differential of 2.97 which means he lands three of every one punch his opponent lands on him whereas the champion Ngannou holds a differential of 0.50 which means he only lands 2.54 for every 2 punches he absorbs.
It isn’t going to be easy for the French international as we all know it only takes one shot for Ngannou to put his opponent to sleep. If Gane manages to avoid those heavy strikes it is very likely that we see his hand raised at UFC 270 to be crowned as the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion.
[Featured Image Credit: Kurdish MMA]
Shashank Iyer