Israel Adesanya reacted with amazement to Francis Ngannou's impeccable ground game against Ciryl Gane in the main event of UFC 270.
'The Last Stylebender', supporting his fellow African, was visibly excited about Ngannou's reversal on Gane after the Frenchman was on top of 'The Predator'.
Speaking about the fight, Adesanya said:
"Nice, beautiful. Came back. Yes! Evolution, yes! That's what it is. Still three kings. The main event, wow! Amazing! Francis was down two rounds but rallied up for the last three, as a champion does, and now the world is his oyster."
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The fight between Ngannou and Gane was expected to be a striking contest. However, the Cameroonian outsmarted Gane by taking the fight to the ground in the third round.
'Bon Gamin' was seemingly taken by surprise by the fact that Ngannou chose to grapple with him for most of the fight. The Frenchman had no answer to 'The Predator's' enigmatic wrestling.
Ngannou successfully landed takedowns at will and controlled Gane on the ground for the majority of the last three rounds. This gameplan ensured a unanimous decision victory for the Cameroonian. The fight also marked Ngannou's first title defense in the UFC.
Ciryl Gane hopes to run it back against Francis Ngannou
While he outpointed Ciryl Gane to retain the heavyweight title, there are still doubts over Francis Ngannou's future in the UFC.
Interestingly, UFC president Dana White did not make his staple appearance at the post-fight press conference following UFC 270. He also did not put the title on Ngannou following his victory on the night, igniting rumors about the African's possible exit from the organisation.
However, Gane has made it clear he'd like 'The Predator' to stay. Gane said he'd like to run it back with Ngannou and get the chance to redeem himself in a potential rematch.
"I don't want that [Ngannou to leave]. I want my rematch. I want to do this fight a second time. I want this fight, I want this very much," Gane said at the post-fight press conference.
Check out Gane's interview at the UFC 270 post-fight press conference below:
This was Gane's first loss of his MMA career. He came into the title bout with a 10-0 record. However, Ngannou's performance showcased a gulf in class between the champion and challenger.