5 reasons why Francis Ngannou vs. Ciryl Gane represents the best of combat sports

Francis Ngannou takes on Ciryl Gane in the main event of UFC 270, the UFC’s first pay-per-view of the new year. The event is set to go down at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, where a stacked fight card will be underway on January 22nd.

All eyes will be on the main event. Ngannou, the heavyweight champion, and Gane, the interim heavyweight champion, will battle for undisputed gold in a highly anticipated title-unification bout.

This matchup isn’t just any old title fight. There are a number of factors and variables that will influence proceedings in the build-up, as well as inside the octagon.

We believe that the Francis Ngannou vs. Ciryl Gane bout embodies everything we love about combat sports – high stakes, an intriguing storyline and an unbelievable stylistic matchup.

Here are five reasons why this monumental fight represents the best of combat sports.

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#5. Aspiring boxer vs. Muay Thai phenom: Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane's contrasting journeys

Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane have had hugely contrasting journeys leading up to their title-unification bout at UFC 270.

Ngannou was born in a small village in Batié, Cameroon. He didn’t have any formal education growing up and lived in poverty throughout his childhood. At the age of 10, he started working in a sand quarry in Batié in order to provide for his family.

Watch Francis Ngannou share his experience of working in a sand mine on The Joe Rogan Experience below:

Francis Ngannou was 22 when he began training in boxing. However, he was forced to stop training due to an illness and took on odd jobs to make ends meet. Four years later, at 26, he decided to head to Paris with the goal of becoming a professional boxer.

Following an arduous journey across the Sahara Desert, the Moroccan-Spanish border and the Mediterranean Sea, Ngannou was jailed in Spain for illegally crossing the border. He was released after two months in a detention facility and subsequently made his way to Paris.

He was homeless in the French capital for quite a while before being introduced to Fernand Lopez, the head coach at the MMA Factory in Paris.

Ngannou, who was a huge fan of Mike Tyson, was initially interested in taking up boxing. However, Lopez saw his potential and convinced him to try MMA instead. Lopez gave him some MMA gear and allowed him to train and sleep at the gym.

Fernand Lopez guided Francis Ngannou’s career all the way until the Cameroonian’s title first title fight against Stipe Miocic at UFC 220, where he lost via unanimous decision.

After the bout, Ngannou left the MMA Factory and moved to Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. Under his new head coach Eric Nicksick, he became the new heavyweight champion at UFC 260 following a KO victory over Miocic.

Ciryl Gane was born in France. His father was a bus driver and football player, who inspired his son to take part in sports throughout his childhood. As a youth, he began working at a furniture shop after joining a work-study program in Paris.

A former classmate introduced Gane to Muay Thai and he took to the sport effortlessly. He made his professional Muay Thai debut in 2014 and amassed a 13-0 record over the next four years, including 9 KO/TKO victories before transitioning to MMA under the tutelage of Fernand Lopez, the former coach of Francis Ngannou.

‘Bon Gamin’ put together a dominant 3-0 run in Canada’s premier MMA promotion, TKO Major League MMA, before signing with the UFC in 2019.

Watch his short run in MMA outside of the UFC below:

The undefeated Frenchman went on a six-fight win streak upon joining the UFC, including victories over Junior dos Santos, Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Alexander Volkov.

Gane’s phenomenal win streak earned him a shot at interim gold against Derrick Lewis at UFC 265 for the interim heavyweight belt. He won via third-round TKO to set up a title-unification bout with Francis Ngannou.

#4. Champion vs. Champion: Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane will battle for undisputed supremacy

Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane will battle for undisputed gold at UFC 270. Title-unification bouts in the UFC heavyweight division represent a lot more than the crowning of an undisputed champion. They determine who holds the title of ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’.

The victor will emerge as the best fighter on the planet, period. Forget the whole hypothetical pound-for-pound debate. The undisputed UFC heavyweight champion is the best fighter in the world.

Ngannou believes he is the sole holder of such a title and has discredited his opponent’s interim belt. He shared his live reaction to Gane’s interim title-winning performance, which you can watch below:

Francis Ngannou secured the belt following a stunning knockout victory over Stipe Miocic in a rematch at UFC 260 and was slated to take on No.1 contender Derrick Lewis in his first title defense. However, following a conflict of interest between the Cameroonian heavyweight and the UFC, Ciryl Gane stepped in to replace the champion and an interim belt was put up for grabs.

Gane went on to win the interim heavyweight title in Houston at UFC 265 with a comfortable TKO win over Lewis to set up one of the most interesting match-ups in the history of the sport.

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#3. Former student vs. Current student of Fernand Lopez: The history, drama and familiarity with one another

As discussed earlier, Francis Ngannou opted to leave Paris and move to Las Vegas following his first loss to Stipe Miocic at UFC 220. Since the split, Ngannou and his former coach Fernand Lopez have traded barbs online, with ‘The Predator’ accusing Lopez of only wanting to be famous.

Lopez, in response, slammed Ngannou for his lack of gratitude towards his gym, the MMA Factory. He criticized his former pupil for being ungrateful and shared that there was only one instance where Ngannou thanked him and his gym. Moreover, Lopez claimed Ngannou had to be reminded to give his coaches credit.

During his appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Lopez gave his take on Francis Ngannou's apparent lack of appreciation for his team. He said:

"Do you know how sad this is? Do you know that if you find a fighter in UFC and you want to check a video of him saying 'thank you' to his gym, you will have 10 thousand videos of each fighter. Do you know that? The thing that fighters say most in their lives is, 'Thank you to my coach. Thank you to my gym.'? This is [supposed to be] a reflex."

Watch Fernand Lopez discuss his feud with Francis Ngannou below:

Following a switch of gyms, Francis Ngannou went on an incredible tear through the heavyweight rankings.

He knocked out Curtis Blaydes (for the second time), Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos and Jairzinho Rozenstruik, all inside the first round, to earn another shot at Miocic’s belt at UFC 260, where he emerged victorious.

Interestingly, Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane have trained together at the MMA Factory in Paris on a few occasions. Gane was still competing in Canada’s TKO MMA promotion at the time while Ngannou was in the UFC.

Videos of sparring sessions between the two have spread like wildfire online leading up to their massive championship bout at UFC 270.

At UFC 268 in Madison Square Garden, New York City, there was an icy encounter between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane backstage. Ngannou walked past his former teammate and didn’t even bother to look at him, let alone say anything.

Gane, who was standing next to his coach Fernand Lopez, seemed shocked that Ngannou didn’t even acknowledge him.

Ngannou later revealed that he had nothing against Gane. Rather, he chose not to say anything as his former coach was right there.

#2. 'True' heavyweight vs. 'True' heavyweight: Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane are massive heavyweights

Both Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane are gigantic heavyweights.

While the heavyweight division is the largest in the UFC, fighters can weigh in anywhere between 206 lbs and 265 lbs in order to be eligible to compete in the weight class. This is a massive margin, and only a handful of heavyweight fighters have to cut weight in order to make the limit. Most compete at their natural weight.

Ngannou weighed in at 263 lbs for his rematch against Stipe Miocic at UFC 260, just 2 lbs below the heavyweight limit. Meanwhile, Miocic weighed in at just 234 lbs, almost 30 lbs lower than his counterpart.

Past heavyweight champions like Junior dos Santos, Cain Velasquez and Daniel Cormier have consistently weighed in 10 to 20 lbs below the maximum limit. Miocic, since his rematch with Ngannou, has shared that he plans on bulking up before facing the Cameroonian in a potential trilogy bout.

Joe Rogan, in an episode of his podcast, shared his take on Francis Ngannou’s build and size. The UFC commentator said:

“He [Francis Ngannou] is like, if you were going to go into a lab and design a perfect heavyweight, you’d say I want about 6’4”, 265 [pounds], maybe a little heavier to cut [weight] a little bit… Maybe 269 down to 265… Crazy freak athleticism, fast as sh*t for a heavyweight, can knock anybody dead with one punch.”

Watch Joe Rogan and Eddie Bravo discuss the physique and athleticism of Francis Ngannou below:

Ciryl Gane will not look any smaller than Ngannou. He is just as tall as ‘The Predator’ at 6’4” and has weighed in as high as 247 lbs, a weight more suited to his fighting style which incorporates a lot of movement.

Very few people can make a fighter like Derrick Lewis, who regularly weighs in at 265 lbs, look average in size. However, Gane looked just as big as the Houston native in their face-off before UFC 265.

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#1. Power vs. Precision: The incredible stylistic matchup

The power vs. precision debate has been tested numerous times throughout the history of striking-based combat sports.

Legendary boxing trainer Teddy Atlas refers to one-punch knockout power as "an eraser," a weapon that wipes away all of one’s previous mistakes with one blow. A fighter that possesses this kind of power is a threat in every single millisecond of a fight.

However, many believe that precision trumps power. Conor McGregor, following his 13-second KO victory over Jose Aldo, famously said:

“He’s [Jose Aldo] powerful and he’s fast. But precision beats power and timing beats speed, and that’s all you saw there.”

Francis Ngannou made waves early on in his UFC career and quickly garnered a reputation for possessing an incredible amount of power in his strikes. Of course, everyone expects heavyweights to generate a large amount of power in their punches, but what Ngannou brought to the table appeared to be something new.

Knockout victories over the likes of Curtis Blaydes, Andrei Arlovski and Alistair Overeem earned ‘The Predator’ his first title shot.

However, his poor wrestling and limited gas tank were exposed by the reigning champion, Stipe Miocic. Ngannou has since credited his undeniable improvements over the last few years to that fateful loss at UFC 220.

Francis Ngannou has since learned to use his power more effectively, setting up traps before throwing bombs.

After putting together another scintillating winning streak, he secured another title shot. He knocked Stipe Miocic out in brutal fashion in their rematch at UFC 260.

Ciryl Gane, however, isn’t too bothered about the power that Francis Ngannou possesses. Gane has dealt with power punchers like Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Derrick Lewis, and is confident in his ability to keep himself safe.

Additionally, as discussed earlier, he has even trained with Ngannou in the past and is familiar with 'The Predator's power.

Moreover, Ciryl Gane offers a lot of threats to Francis Ngannou. Gane represents a new breed of heavyweights taking over the sport. The undefeated Frenchman incorporates a Muay Thai-style form of striking with agile movement on the feet.

He moves like a welterweight, constantly on his toes as if he’s skipping rope. All of his opponents have had trouble landing punches on him, largely thanks to his unorthodox movement.

Joe Rogan, in conversation with Lex Friedman, had this to say about Gane’s style:

“Ciryl Gane, who’s 6 foot 5 [inches], 247 pounds, moves like a 170-pounder. Its crazy! He’s bouncing like ‘Wonderboy’ [UFC welterweight Stephen Thompson]! Bouncing, like this [while imitating Gane’s movement], throwing feints… Like completely changed the standard of heavyweight striking, and I’m not exaggerating.”

Watch Joe Rogan and Lex Friedman discuss Ciryl Gane’s unique style below:

Needless to say, the stylistic matchup between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane will be a sight to behold. Add in the backstory and the drama between Ngannou and his former coach, coupled with the fact that the two fighters have trained together in the past, and there's a lot of interesting variables going into this fight.

Two well-rounded behemoths, locking horns with undisputed gold and the moniker of ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’ on the line, will undoubtedly produce fireworks.

Don't blink.