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Francis Ngannou will face Ciryl Gane in a highly anticipated unification fight at UFC 270. John McCarthy and Josh Thomson recently provided a breakdown of the upcoming encounter.
According to McCarthy, Ciryl Gane doesn't have an edge over Francis Ngannou when it comes to wrestling. The former UFC referee believes the Cameroonian's time at Xtreme Couture has prepared him to deal with high caliber grapplers. McCarthy recently said on the Weighing In podcast:
"No. I don't think his [Ciryl Gane's] wrestling is that good. Let's be honest, Ngannou's been in there with better wrestlers and you saw that his wrestling has improved over time. His time at Xtreme Couture, they've done a great job of getting him to understand how to anti-wrestle at times. How to pressure that you've seen instead of just backing off. When he was going against Stipe, he didn't back off, [he] actually came around the backside to the hips and started landing shots. He is a much more confident fighter going in with a guy that can actually grapple."
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Watch the full Weighing In podcast episode below:
What should Francis Ngannou be worried about?
According to John McCarthy, Francis Ngannou has handled himself against wrestlers who are at least as good or even better than Ciryl Gane. However, he believes Ngannou should be more concerned about Gane's unique striking style.
According to McCarthy, Ciryl Gane can pick apart Francis Ngannou from a distance without taking any substantial damage. He believes that could lead to 'The Predator' loading up on his punches and gassing out.
"Gane is outstanding at being the guy that controls the distance. And if Ngannou tries to load up and land the big shots and keeps swinging and missing, it's gonna gas him. And if he's swinging and missing and then Gane starts to come on and starts touching him and touching him more and more and more, it will add up and it will make a difference in the fight. And you will see Gane start to run away with the fight."
