UFC 270: FRANCIS NGANNOU vs CIRYL GANE | 23 January, 11:00 AM

[Mary C]

For the first pay-per-view of the year, UFC 270 is highly anticipated as its main event consists of the undisputed champ Francis Ngannou against the interim titleholder Ciryl Gane competing for the heavyweight belt. This match is what many would characterize as a real 50-50 battle, a real treat to start the year, hence fans and even analysts are unsure of the outcome of the game. The match goes down at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, this Sunday, January 23, 2022, at 11 AM PST. 

 

Now, who is Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane? Francis Ngannou is arguably the most vicious and treacherous puncher in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) history while Ciryl Gane was recently praised as the sharpest striker to enter the UFC heavyweight division. UFC president distinguishes the two as Ngannou being the stylistic fighter who hits and destroys, and Gane as the best technical heavyweight striker in UFC history. Having quite the accolade from such an esteemed figure shows that both men have reputations to keep as both will enter the cage as UFC champions. Their distinctions came about as Ngannou became the undisputed heavyweight king in March 2021, when he knocked out the great Stipe Miocic. Gane, meanwhile, captured interim heavyweight gold in August of the same year, when he dominated knockout artist Derrick Lewis. As if the details weren’t exciting enough, the fighters also happened to be former sparring partners who no longer get on with each other— backstory and drama? Count us in! 

 

As heavyweight fights are one of the most difficult to predict in MMA, talking about fighters of the caliber of Ngannou and Gane is much of a struggle as one would suspect. To aid in the prediction process, let’s address the top strengths of the two: 

Force - Ngannou 

While not the most polished striker, Ngannou’s impact force has resulted in rivals’ brutal knockouts with quite short match durations. There’s not much to say on this front when talking about Francis Ngannou, it’s easy to say all fighters pack a strong punch, but he is quite literally the most dangerous puncher in UFC history.  

Durability - Gane 

Gane has a longer average fight time than Ngannou, never been knocked out, or even gravely hurt in his matches. He has yet to give viewers a reason to be concerned about his play and durability. His chances rely on his ability to withstand the Ngannou’s punches and there's currently no way to know how he'll react until it happens. 

 

Ultimately, we believe that Ngannou will be winning by knockout in round two. One of the few victors against Ngannou, Stioe Miocic, was only able to gain advantage when he tired Ngannou out and avoided getting hit in two rounds. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be part of Gane’s primary skillset and his durability would most likely mean that there are more chances for him to get hit. We’ll have to wait and see if Gane manages to pull through at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA, on January 23, 11 AM PST.