Preview: UFC 270 ‘Ngannou vs. Gane’

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first pay-per-view of 2022 has arrived, and while some late changes have negatively impacted the card in the last few weeks, the two bouts at the top might still be enough to carry the load for UFC 270 on Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Francis Ngannou meets Ciryl Gane in one of the more intriguing heavyweight title fights in recent memory, as two top talents and former training partners square off amid the backdrop of the former possibly completing his current UFC contract. On the other side of the size spectrum, Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo finish their flyweight trilogy with the 125-pound championship on the line. It serves as an exciting matchup on paper and an opportunity for Moreno, the UFC’s first Mexican-born champion, to affirm himself as the division’s true king. While several solid pairings round out the main card, it all boils down to the two title fights on the marquee.

Now to the UFC 270 “Ngannou vs. Gane” preview:

UFC Heavyweight Championship

C | Francis Ngannou (16-3, 11-2 UFC) vs. #1 HW | Ciryl Gane (10-0, 7-0 UFC)

ODDS: Gane (-155), Ngannou (+135)

Ngannou on paper should be everything the UFC wants to promote. That was certainly the case heading into his first shot at the heavyweight title. After a particularly brutal knockout of Alistair Overeem to cap 2017, the UFC rushed to book “The Predator” against Stipe Miocic for the strap the next month, at which point the promotional machine was put in high gear. Ngannou checks all the boxes: a captivating life story that saw him emigrate from Cameroon to France in order to find success as a boxer, a marketable look that jumps off the screen and the ability to hit opponents with one of the scariest levels of power the sport has ever seen. UFC 220 felt like it could have been the culmination of Ngannou’s meteoric rise, but instead, it became the spot where Miocic affirmed himself as an all-time great, surviving early trouble and eventually exposing the gaps in the Frenchman’s game. There were some positives for the challenger to take away, however. Even in what turned into a tough slog of a fight, Ngannou kept fighting and remained dangerous, suggesting that he still had the core ingredients to become a champion. All that was lacking was the experience. However, a subsequent loss to Derrick Lewis raised real concerns. Ngannou looked gun-shy in a battle of two men who each waited for the other to strike first, resulting in his losing one of the most disappointingly awful fights in UFC history. That was around the time it became clear that the relationship between Ngannou and the UFC was becoming strained, with UFC President Dana White, in particular, attempting to paint the former title challenger as a prima donna who was falling in love with his own hype. Still, the UFC kept putting Ngannou in main events and prominent spots, and the Cameroonian kept up his end of the bargain, stringing together another run of highlight-reel knockouts until he found himself back in a familiar position. He challenged Miocic for the heavyweight title once again, this time in March 2021, and this time around, Ngannou cashed in on the hype, showing enough improvements—particularly in his wrestling—to pay the necessary dividends. Miocic never really found his way into the fight, and the result was a brutal Ngannou knockout to claim the title in the second round. Shortly after Ngannou’s title win, it became apparent that his marketability as champion would not be enough to repair the relationship between himself and the UFC. The promotion wanted Ngannou available for a fight in August against Lewis in the latter’s hometown of Houston, but with the champion unable to fight until September due to promotional and charity obligations in Cameroon, the UFC instead opted to pit “The Black Beast” against a surging prospect and former Ngannou training partner in Gane. The company marketed the fight around an interim title and the idea that Ngannou was too busy basking in stardom to defend his belt. Gane beating Lewis set the table for a friends-turned-foes bout with an interesting backdrop from Ngannou’s standpoint. He has been open about wanting to box and his contractual issues with the UFC, and with a loss here, he would be free to go. With a win, he would be subject to the champion clause in the UFC’s contracts and stay beholden to the promotion for another year, at which point Ngannou has made it clear he will be done unless he receives a new contract. It would be stunning if the UFC let a talent like Ngannou walk, and that adds multiple levels of intrigue to what is already an excellent fight against Gane.

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Much like Ngannou, Gane has enjoyed a stunning rise through the sport. It has been less than three and a half years since Gane made his professional debut and under two and a half since he made his first UFC appearance. A convert from the kickboxing world, it became apparent in short order that there was little that regional competition could offer “Bon Gamin.” A tall and fluid fighter, Gane had little issue overwhelming his three pre-UFC opponents and had nothing left to prove at that level by the time the UFC came calling in 2019. Gane packed three fights into the last five months of the year, and it was much the same story. Opponents offered little on the feet, and Gane impressed by mixing in some solid grappling skills and scoring submission wins over Raphael Pessoa and Don'Tale Mayes. From there, Gane missed about a year due to various issues—it makes his quick rise all the more impressive—though upon his return, it was time for him to face some actual tests. Gane handled an aging version of Junior dos Santos before entering a main event against Jairzinho Rozenstruik that was quite the intriguing fight on paper for the Frenchman. Rozenstruik’s ability to hit opponents with sharp and powerful counters figured to prove a lot about whether Gane could ride a low-power, high-technique approach to heavyweight success, particularly over the course of five rounds. Rozenstruik’s inactivity led to a terrible fight in practice, but it was still an impressive performance for Gane, who mixed it up enough to completely neutralize a powerful threat and showed that he could keep a pace over 25 minutes. Gane then dominated Alexander Volkov in another five-round main event before putting away Lewis in a one-sided performance, once again neutralizing one of the more powerful threats in the heavyweight division, all while walking away with a finish. They are much different fighters, but it is difficult not to make a comparison between the rises of Ngannou and Gane, even before factoring in the history between the two. If he manages to get a win here, perhaps Gane will get the amount of promotional shine he deserves.

Gane is an absolutely fascinating fighter at heavyweight, if only because his style almost feels too good to actually work. Success in the division usually comes through some combination of power and durability and little else, so Gane’s ability to fluidly attack his opponents from range really does seem like it should have gotten him blasted for a prospect loss at some point. Yet here we are. Without one-shot knockout power or having proven his ability to come back from getting cracked, Gane is now one win away from affirming himself as the best heavyweight in the world. Ngannou is much more the typical heavyweight prospect. While his physical gifts are unworldly for this sport and he has done well to improve, he has not had to show much in the way of consistent technical depth. Each man’s win against Rozenstruik basically tells the story. Gane put on a consistent 25-minute performance based around risk and reward, while Ngannou quickly abandoned all technique and simply decided to blitz Rozenstruik and run him over in just 20 seconds. For as wild as that performance was, Ngannou’s subsequent title win over Miocic does show that he can apply himself technically as needed, and even the most minor refinements make “The Predator” all the more dangerous. If Gane can make his style work over 25 minutes, then he has truly cracked the code of the heavyweight division. The two participants are essentially at size parity, and while Ngannou is still a much more comfortable fighter countering a pressuring opponent, the champion has shown enough willingness to lead that he is more than capable of cracking Gane at some point. That holds true throughout all 25 minutes. While cardio is still a concern for Ngannou at any sort of extended pace, he has remained a dangerous knockout artist even when tired and does not need perfect technique to score a thudding knockout. The fact that these two are former training partners is probably crucial to the result of this fight, but to what extent is known only by them. Gane figures to be more prepared than anyone for the type of power that “The Predator” brings, but Ngannou has also felt the type of range and speed that his adversary prefers to dictate and should be more able than anyone to take advantage of any sort of defensive gap. Gane also has the change-up of his wrestling, but that may not be a smart idea to pursue unless he has Ngannou tired and the fight well in hand. Ngannou looked much-improved against Miocic and managed to keep that fight standing; and attempting to take down Ngannou has historically been the easiest way for the champion to feel out his opponents and score a quick knockout. Gane has the tools to ride this out, but the bet is that Ngannou has enough of a read on him to find something in the first few rounds. In another division or against another opponent, that may not be enough to beat Gane, but the champion has the advantage of being one of the hardest-hitting heavyweights of all-time. The pick is Ngannou via second-round knockout.

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