5 reasons why Ciryl Gane is the man to beat Francis Ngannou

#4 Ciryl Gane's composure inside the octagon

Ciryl Gane remains calm and collected during fights. Unlike many other heavyweight fighters, Gane does not rush in for a flashy knockout. Instead, he takes his time and looks for the right opportunity to attack his opponents.

Although Ngannou is arguably the hardest hitter on the entire UFC roster, he's not the most composed fighter. As seen in his fight with Rozenstruik, the heavyweight champ throws wild haymakers way more than jabs or feints.

This could work in the French fighter's favor as he can wait for the champion to rush in and make a mistake and then capitalize on it.

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#3 Ciryl Gane and Francis Ngannou are former teammates

Ciryl Gane and Francis Ngannou used to be teammates at MMA Factory under coach Fernand Lopez. The two fighters trained together a couple of times which can be helpful to Gane as he will know what to expect from Ngannou if they ever fight.

Gane is not very close to Ngannou at the moment and has expressed interest in fighting 'The Predator' on multiple occasions.

"When I arrived in the gym, in the MMA Factory, Francis lived already in Vegas. I just saw Francis a few times when he come back to Paris to prepare for a fight. So, no, I’m not really close to Francis now. Everybody knows the strength of Francis is the power and everybody knows my strength is I move a lot. I have the footwork, so this is a good matchup." said Gane.

In a post-fight press conference after his win over Volkov, Gane reiterated the same sentiment.

"I’m comfortable with this matchup if this matchup is going to happen. Now, for title, I’m really comfortable with this situation because we was born in the same gym. Before, it was a little bit (uncomfortable), you know? Now I’m comfortable. We’re going to fight for the belt. This is beautiful for us, for me, for him and my coach.” said Ciryl Gane.