'The Predator has a way to go' - Chael Sonnen reveals what Francis Ngannou needs to do to beat Ciryl Gane
Former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen believes current UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou needs to rely on his power in order to beat Ciryl Gane.
Speaking on 'The Chael Sonnen Show', 'The American Gangster' shared that 'The Predator' has to successfully land power shots in order to get the better of Gane:
"He [Francis Ngannou] to make it about power. He needs to trap Ciryl [Gane]. Ciryl being the smaller guy, the lighter guy, he's gonna naturally be a little quicker. We also have checked some boxes on Ciryl which has to do with the long contest. He might not have seen championship rounds here, we saw enough to know that the championship rounds were not going to be a problem. There's not a lot of heavyweights that can say that, including Francis Ngannou. So, I think Francis needs to make this as tight as he can, he needs to cut him off, he needs to look for those power shots...the Predator has a way to go, but it's gonna invovle power," said Chael Sonnen.
Chael went on to share his thoughts on how the heavyweight scrap would go down.
"Neither one of these guys is gonna go out there and wrestle, neither one needs to flip the script..'It's going to be Muay-Thai, it's going to be a kickboxing fight with the small gloves under the unified rules, but it's a stand-up battle, make no mistake. I think Francis does really good work in the clinch, Ciryl...very hard guy to clinch on. So, this is a very classic battle. One guy has got to stay on the outside, add them up and one guy has got to get inside and do some damage."
You can watch a clip of the show below:
Gane recently defeated Derrick Lewis in the main event of UFC 265 to be crowned the new UFC interim heavyweight champion. His dominant performance impressed Francis Ngannou, who put out a tweet praising the French fighter.
Dana White is excited about Ciryl Gane vs. Francis Ngannou
Dana White has expressed excitement towards the potential matchup between Ciryl Gane and Francis Nganou for the undisputed heavyweight title.
At the UFC 265 post-fight press conference, the UFC president said that the narrative of two former teammates fighting for UFC gold is "beautiful". Both fighters used to train together at the MMA Factory. Later, Ngannou parted ways with the gym in hopes of better prospects.