"He just does everything that Ciryl does but in a better way" - Francis Ngannou calls Israel Adesanya the 'best striker in the game'

Francis Ngannou has described Israel Adesanya as the "best striker" in MMA.

Ngannou will make his first heavyweight title defense against his former teammate Ciryl Gane later this month. The pair trained together under Fernand Lopez at the MMA Factory gym in France before 'The Predator' moved to the United States.

While Ngannou doesn't deny Gane's technical prowess, he believes that 'Bon Gamin' simply isn't as good as Israel Adesanya, whom he regards as the best striker in MMA.

In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Francis Ngannou detailed the connection he shares with Adesanya. He also revealed that he had tried to get 'The Last Stylebender' on board to train with him for his upcoming showdown against Gane.

"It's really hard for me to make a clear statement on Izzy because it's going to be emotional, you know. I took Izzy as a brother so things that I say about him might not be considered by somebody but I say, he's a great guy, the best striker in the game. By the way, I tried to get him for this training camp, but travel restrictions with New Zealand wasn't really helpful for us so we couldn't make it. But he would have loved to come here and help me for the striking part of the game, the footwork and everything. Because when you look at his style, he just does everything that Ciyrl does but in a better way. And he was willing to come down here and help me for my camp, but couldn't make it."

Watch Francis Ngannou talk about Israel Adesanya in the video below:

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Francis Ngannou spars with Blagoy Ivanov ahead of Ciryl Gane fight

Francis Ngannou released the second episode of his Ciryl Gane Fight Camp series. In the video, the heavyweight champion shared a glimpse of his sparring sessions with the likes of fellow UFC heavyweight Blagoy Ivanov, along with Muay Thai fighter Santino Zurita and an amateur MMA fighter.

Take a peek at Francis Ngannou’s sparring sessions in the second episode of Ciryl Gane Fight Camp:

Francis Ngannou captured the heavyweight title with a brutal second-round KO victory over Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 260 back in March 2021. The win marked his fifth consecutive stoppage success in the promotion.

Meanwhile, Ciryl Gane became the UFC interim heavyweight champion with a third-round TKO win over Derrick Lewis at UFC 265 last August.

The two heavyweights are set to collide in the main event of UFC 270 on January 22 at the Honda Center in California.