"He can become a ghost in the ring" - Teddy Atlas on how Ciryl Gane will fare against Francis Ngannou

Teddy Atlas believes heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has his work cut out for him against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270.

'The Predator' is on the last fight of his contract and has been disgruntled with his pay. If he can retain the title, he could have more leverage in negotiations with the UFC.

During an interview with The Schmo, Atlas praised Gane's elusiveness and revealed that he expects the French fighter to present Ngannou with a stiff test:

"It's only going to matter if [Francis Ngannou] retains his title... At the end of the day, it doesn't matter unless you retain the title against a very [difficult challenger]. Talking about the sweet science, you're talking about [Ciryl] Gane. You're talking about a guy who can become a ghost in the ring... He can become a guy who can frustrate the c**p out of you. We already know Ngannou can pick up the Statue of Liberty... and he's improved," said Atlas.

Atlas stated that Ngannou needs to combine the improvements he's made to his game with his power to keep ahold of the belt:

"He [Ngannou] is going to need whatever improvement he's gotten to go along with his natural power... Gane is going to test him in those areas. Like Muhammad Ali said, 'Your hands can't hit what your eyes can't see.' Gane is going to be difficult for him. He's going to look to make him miss. He's going to look to control range. He's going to look to counter punch... He's going to look to disarm him."

Atlas went on to praise Gane's ringcraft and noted that he expected 'Bon Gamin' to try to nullify Ngannou's power.

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Francis Ngannou practices heavy ground and pound in preparation for Ciryl Gane fight

As Teddy Atlas stated, Francis Ngannou is always looking to add new weapons to his arsenal. The heavyweight kingpin showed off his devastating ground and pound in a video posted to his official Instagram page.

In the background, Dewey Cooper - one of his coaches - was encouraging Ngannou as he unleashed a barrage of punches, hammerfists and elbows on the training dummy.

Check out Francis Ngannou's ground and pound in the clip below:

If Francis Ngannou can retain the title against Ciryl Gane, the UFC might be more willing to bend over backwards to accommodate him. This scenario would also open up the possibility of a super fight with Jon Jones. 'Bones' is currently bulking up to heavyweight and has expressed an interest in fighting Ngannou before.