UFC 270 lineup: Which fighters are competing at the PPV?

UFC 270 poster [Image Courtesy: @bt_ufc on Twitter]

The UFC's first pay-per-view of 2022, UFC 270, has some cracking fights on the card. The event is set to go down at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

UFC 270 will be headlined by a heavyweight title unification bout between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane.

UFC 270: Ngannou vs. Gane is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that will take place on January 22, 2022 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
#UFC270 #UFC https://t.co/aZs4lt2hmD

The co-main event at UFC 270 will feature a highly anticipated trilogy bout between Brandon Moreno (c) and Devieson Figueiredo for the flyweight championship.

The fight card will feature 13 fights in total. Fight cards typically comprise two parts, i.e. the main card and the preliminary card. However, the card split has not been officially announced as of yet.

Full fight card:

Francis Ngannou vs. Ciryl Gane (heavyweight title unification bout, 5 rounds)

Brandon Moreno vs. Deiveson Figueiredo (flyweight championship bout, 5 rounds)

Greg Hardy vs. Aleksei Oleinik (heavyweight, 3 rounds)

Cody Stamann vs. Said Nurmagomedov (bantamweight, 3 rounds)

Movsar Evloev vs. Ilia Topuria (featherweight, 3 rounds)

Poliana Botelho vs. Ji Yeon Kim (women's flyweight, 3 rounds)

Warlley Alves vs. Jack Della (welterweight, 3 rounds)

Tony Gravely vs. Saimob Oliveira (bantamweight, 3 rounds)

Rodolfo Vieira vs. Wellington Turman (middleweight, 3 rounds)

Tervin Giles vs. Michael Morales (welterweight, 3 rounds)

Viviane Araujo vs. Alexa Grasso (women's flyweight, 3 rounds)

Matt Frevola vs. Genaro Valdez (lightweight, 3 rounds)

Kay Hansen vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius (women's flyweight, 3 rounds)

Francis Ngannou vs. Ciryl Gane: A closer look at the main event of UFC 270

Francis Ngannou is set to take on Ciryl Gane in the main event of UFC 270.

Ngannou became the UFC heavyweight champion following his stunning knockout victory over Stipe Miocic at UFC 260 earlier this year. Gane became the interim UFC heavyweight champion after defeating Derrick Lewis at UFC 265.

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🏆 @Francis_Ngannou vs @Ciryl_Gane 🏆 https://t.co/NSuxGGiBG6

Interestingly, Ngannou and Gane have trained together at the MMA Factory in Paris on a few occasions. Gane was still competing in Canada’s TKO MMA promotion at the time while Ngannou was in the UFC.

Videos of sparring sessions between the two have spread like wildfire online, with analysts and fans alike breaking the footage down leading up to the massive title unification bout at UFC 270.

Once training partners, Ciryl Gane and Francis Ngannou could be future opponents if Gane is able to capture the interim heavyweight title at #UFC265 🏆 (via @mmafactory_fr) https://t.co/pr2WH2c6km

Ciryl Gane offers a lot of threats to Francis Ngannou. The undefeated Frenchman represents a new breed of heavyweights taking over the sport. Gane incorporates a karate-style form of striking with agile movement on the feet.

He moves like a welterweight, constantly on his toes as if he’s skipping rope. All of his opponents have had trouble landing punches on him, largely thanks to his unorthodox movement.

One month to go!! 💥

@Francis_Ngannou vs @Ciryl_Gane at #UFC270!! https://t.co/3JNxcolqcp

Francis Ngannou made waves early on in his UFC career and quickly garnered a reputation for possessing an incredible amount of power in his strikes. Of course, everyone expects heavyweights to generate a large amount of power in their punches, but what Ngannou brought to the table appeared to be something new.

'The Predator' has recorded knockout victories over the likes of Curtis Blaydes (twice), Andrei Arlovski, Alistair Overeem, Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos, Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Stipe Miocic.

Additionally, he has improved significantly with every passing fight. He has learned to use his power more effectively, setting up traps before throwing bombs, as was evident when he knocked out Stipe Miocic.

The 𝓒𝓸𝓻𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 of @Francis_Ngannou 👑

[ #UFC270 | Jan 22 | @HondaCenter | Tickets 🔗 ufc.ac/3x3MxMU ] https://t.co/iIA6PTIwKC

Needless to say, the stylistic matchup between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane will be a sight to behold.