5 reasons why a win over Ciryl Gane makes Francis Ngannou the UFC's heavyweight GOAT

#2. Francis Ngannou doesn’t just beat his opponents, he destroys them

Fighters are often permanently damaged by a loss to Francis Ngannou

Perhaps the biggest reason to label Francis Ngannou as the UFC’s heavyweight GOAT is that he doesn’t just beat his opponents inside the octagon, he destroys them to the point that they’re often never the same again.

Nobody hits quite as hard as ‘The Predator’, who has a total of 10 knockouts to his name inside the octagon. However, it’s the aftermath of his knockouts that makes him such a scary proposition for opponents to face.

Both Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos were basically finished at the top level after Francis Ngannou sparked them out in 2019. Velasquez outright retired from MMA after the defeat and dos Santos was cut after he spiralled into a string of losses.

Alistair Overeem’s time as a top-level contender was basically done once Francis Ngannou destroyed him with probably the most brutal uppercut in UFC history. Meanwhile, nobody really knows how well Stipe Miocic will return from his recent knockout loss to ‘The Predator’.

In fact, it’s even worth noting that some observers put Miocic’s 2018 loss to Daniel Cormier partially down to the damage he took from Ngannou in their first fight six months beforehand.

Essentially, the UFC has seen some great heavyweights before, but nobody has ever held the fear factor quite like Francis Ngannou does. That means that a big win over Ciryl Gane this weekend would surely make him the GOAT of the division.

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#1. No other UFC heavyweight will have beaten so many top fighters

If Francis Ngannou beats Ciryl Gane, he'll hold five wins over former or current UFC champions

Amanda Nunes is widely recognized as the greatest female fighter in UFC history. One major justification for handing her that title is the fact that during her career, she has defeated a total of six former or current UFC champions.

If we’re using that criteria to decide a GOAT, then, it’s basically impossible to overlook Francis Ngannou in the heavyweight division.

The reigning UFC heavyweight champion has picked up wins over a total of four former or current UFC champions during his time in the octagon. All four of those fighters, Andrei Arlovski, Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos and Stipe Miocic, were knocked out.

If you then add in the fact that he also holds wins over one of the most decorated heavyweights of all time in Alistair Overeem, as well as another of the highest ranked fighters of the current generation in the form of Curtis Blaydes, and it’s hard to argue with his credentials.

More to the point, it’s also easy to pass over his two losses as he defeated Miocic in a rematch and his decision loss to Derrick Lewis could well have gone the other way on the scorecards. Sure, that fight was bad, but even the best fighters have the odd stinker. Since then, ‘The Predator’ has more than made up for it.

Essentially, no other heavyweight in UFC history has defeated as many top opponents as Ngannou, which means that with a win over another UFC titleholder in Ciryl Gane this weekend, it’ll be hard not to consider him the heavyweight GOAT.