5 reasons why a win over Ciryl Gane makes Francis Ngannou the UFC's heavyweight GOAT
This weekend sees UFC 270 go down from Anaheim, California. In the main event, Francis Ngannou defends his heavyweight title against interim champion Ciryl Gane.
If Ngannou can successfully defend his title against Gane this Saturday, it’ll undoubtedly make him the best heavyweight on the planet, but will he be the greatest in UFC history?
It’s definitely a question that’s worth debating. If he can defeat ‘Bon Gamin’ as he’s done to so many other fighters in the octagon, it’d be hard to deny him the spot.
Here are five reasons why 'The Predator' should be considered the UFC’s heavyweight GOAT if he can beat Ciryl Gane.
#5. Francis Ngannou will have essentially cleaned out his division with a win over Ciryl Gane
To become known as the greatest of all time in any weight class in the UFC, it probably goes without saying that a fighter needs to clean their division out by beating all possible challengers.
If he can defeat Ciryl Gane this weekend, it’s probably safe to argue that Francis Ngannou would have done just that. Of the UFC’s current top 10, ‘The Predator’ holds victories over Stipe Miocic (No.2), Curtis Blaydes (No.4) and Jairzinho Rozenstruik (No.6).
Admittedly, he hasn’t fought many of the other ranked fighters, including Alexander Volkov, Chris Daukaus and Marcin Tybura. However, all of those fighters largely hold losses to the ones that Ngannou has already dispatched.
Sure, there may be some value in the Cameroonian fighter facing Derrick Lewis, who defeated him in an odd fight in 2018, or prospects like Tom Aspinall or Tai Tuivasa in the future. However, for now, at least, it’s hard to see a real challenge for him if he can defeat Gane.
Essentially, ‘The Predator’ will be in a rare position should he be able to defeat ‘Bon Gamin’ in that it’ll be nearly impossible to imagine any other heavyweight on the UFC’s roster defeating him.
Very few other heavyweights, if any, in UFC history have gotten to that point, which would make Ngannou the GOAT.