Francis Ngannou reveals how his knee injuries affected UFC 270 performance - "Certain positions were hurting"
Francis Ngannou notched his first title defense at UFC 270 with a unanimous decision win over Ciryl Gane. In the post-fight interview, the champion revealed that he sustained a torn MCL and an injured ACL ahead of the showdown.
Following the bout, 'The Predator' was interviewed by Megan Olivi backstage. He gave details on how the knee injuries affected his UFC 270 performance. Ngannou said:
"I have enough confidence on my grappling, but I was a little concerned about everything like moving forward, [am] I going to slip, is he [Gane] gonna kick my leg if I switch stance, you know, all that stuff. Then I saw that he's like trying to wrestle which is something that I knew for sure that I'm pretty good at, at least more than him. [It] was an opportunity for me. I couldn't be stable on my stance. I couldn't move with confidence so I was very afraid. Even though certain positions were hurting, I was able to deal with that better than the striking."
Watch Francis Ngannou's full interaction with Megan Olivi in the video below:
Tyson Fury congratulates Francis Ngannou and welcomes him to make real money
While Francis Ngannou - the consensus hardest hitter in UFC history - has made a name for himself in MMA, the heavyweight champion is also keen to showcase his boxing talent.
During the UFC 270 post-fight interview, 'The Predator' reiterated his determination to step inside the boxing ring with WBC heavyweight champ Tyson Fury when asked about a potential move to boxing. Ngannou said that boxing is something that he must do before the end of his professional fighting career.
Watch Ngannou's full UFC 270 post-fight interview in the video below:
Following the fight, 'The Gypsy King' took to Twitter to offer his congratulations to 'The Predator' while continuing to tease a fight with the UFC champion. Fury wrote:
"Congratulations Francis Ngannou but if you want to make some real money come see the GK."
Congratulations @francis_ngannou but if you want to make some real money come see the GK 💰
Ngannou’s hopes of securing a crossover boxing match with Tyson Fury would have taken a big hit if he had failed to unify the UFC heavyweight titles against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270.
'The Predator' retained his belt with a unanimous decision victory, using an unexpected grappling approach rather than his unprecedented knockout power.