Coach Eric Nicksick reacts to fans claiming Francis Ngannou was not impressive at UFC 270 - "Their opinions don't pay our bills"
Eric Nicksick has responded to critics who weren't overly impressed with Francis Ngannou at UFC 270.
Last Saturday night, Francis Ngannou surprised an awful lot of people by defeating Ciryl Gane via decision to retain his UFC heavyweight title. The win came despite Gane seemingly bagging the first two rounds of the bout, with Ngannou facing the very real possibility of losing his crown in Anaheim.
However, some fantastic adjustments - including a shift to grappling and jiu-jitsu - helped 'The Predator' to come from 2-0 down and win on the judges' scorecards.
As we all know, Francis is best known to the masses as a knockout artist. Due to this, some fans weren't happy; but his coach Eric Nicksick isn't all too bothered about that.
🏼Amazed at people saying Ngannou wasn’t impressive at #UFC270. Really showed his evolution as a mixed martial artist.
TDs, ability to control/maintain/improve position, ward off sub attempts, reverse position… that shit was impressive as hell. Congrats @Eric_XCMMA & team 👏🏼
"Appreciate you!! Can’t make everyone happy, but their opinions don’t pay our bills…," tweeted Eric Nicksick.
@ChrisReive Appreciate you!! Can’t make everyone happy, but their opinions don’t pay our bills… 🤷🏼♂️
Xtreme Couture coach Nicksick has been working alongside Ngannou for the last few years in Las Vegas. The heavyweight champion left his home in Paris, France to shift camps permanently.
Is Francis Ngannou leaving MMA?
There's a lot of speculation regarding what the future holds for Francis Ngannou after UFC 270. He revealed in the post-fight interview that he had been dealing with some fairly substantial knee problems and due to that, he'll likely be taking a good chunk of time off. However, the more notable issue came from the fact that he didn't get the belt put on him by UFC president Dana White.
The two clearly have an issue with one another. There's a decent chance we could see Ngannou leave mixed martial arts in pursuit of a run in pro boxing, due to their broken relationship.
He's already been called out by boxing great Tyson Fury. Furthermore, with his UFC contract officially coming to an end at the conclusion of 2022, Ngannou would be free to do whatever he pleases.
Dana White, meanwhile, will probably have to start preparing for a post-Ngannou heavyweight division sooner rather than later. However, there could be some good news for White. Jon Jones is expected to make his heavyweight debut this year. 'Bones' could end up playing a huge part in the future of the heavyweight title.