John McCarthy explains what Ciryl Gane has to do to beat Francis Ngannou at UFC 270

John McCarthy has laid out a strategy he believes would serve Ciryl Gane best when he takes on Francis Ngannou at UFC 270. Ngannou is the UFC heavyweight champion, while Gane is currently the interim titleholder.

Ciryl Gane and Francis Ngannou have almost polar-opposite striking styles, which makes their matchup an extremely intriguing proposition. Gane is an extremely mobile fighter, especially by heavyweight standards, and has no qualms about taking the fight to deep waters.

Ngannou, on the other hand, is one of the hardest hitters in the UFC. All 11 of his UFC wins ended before the third round.

Speaking on the Weighing In podcast, John McCarthy stated that footwork and ring generalship could play a huge role in the outcome of the bout.

"You've got to look at it and say, what is it, style wise, that makes it to where Ciryl Gane can win. What is it, style wise, that makes it to where Francis Ngannou can win. And I truly believe that if Ciryl Gane isn't able to keep Francis towards his back foot and stepping away, or trying to follow instead of head off... he's (Ngannou) got to cut off the footwork, he's gotta cut off where that angle's at. If he doesn't do those things and he starts to follow Gane, you're gonna see Gane running away with it."

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John McCarthy on what makes Francis Ngannou such a threat to Ciryl Gane

John McCarthy also discussed Francis Ngannou's natural knockout power, which makes him one of the most intimidating fighters on the entire UFC roster.

'The Predator' often lives up to his nickname, having made elite heavyweights such as Curtis Blaydes, Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Stipe Miocic appear to be nothing more than his prey. Discussing the Cameroonian's power, McCarthy said:

"If Ngannou can land one strike. Just like we've seen in other fights where Gane can be winning the whole sucker and one strike ends it all very quickly. And, you know, you can go and take a look at Ciryl Gane and say, well, he's fought guys like Rozenstruik, who he went the distance with, but Ngannou got rid of in seconds. Let's just be honest. That's where the match doesn't work."

Check out the full episode of the Weighing In podcast below: