Francis Ngannou's coach Eric Nicksick explains how he tried to break Ciryl Gane's will at UFC 270

Eric Nicksick has revealed that he smelt blood in the water after Francis Ngannou won round three of the UFC 270 main event against Ciryl Gane.

Gane got the better of the first two rounds against Ngannou. However, the heavyweight champion used his improved wrestling to secure four takedowns and win the next three rounds en route to a unanimous decision win.

During an interview with MMA Junkie Radio, Eric Nicksick revealed that he noticed Ciryl Gane was fatigued after the third round of his clash with Francis Ngannou. The Xtreme Couture coach made sure to let everyone know of this observation, putting the Frenchman and his corner on the backfoot.

"After round three, it took Gane a little while to get back up off the mat. And I made that aware... I vocalized that to him. I yelled, literally, to Francis as I was walking in to drop the stool. I yelled at Francis to look at Gane and said, 'Look how tired this motherf***** is. He can't even get up off the mat.' Loud enough that they could all hear me say that... For me, it's a chess move but I want to let them know that I can smell blood in the water and we're coming," said Nicksick.

Check out the entire interview below:

Eric Nicksick reveals how Francis Ngannou injured his knee weeks before UFC 270

Francis Ngannou walked into UFC 270 as the betting underdog and showcased the evolution of his game to come away with a unanimous decision victory. The performance was even more impressive as the heavyweight champion had to fight with a torn MCL and a damaged ACL.

During an interview with Ariel Helwani on the most recent episode of The MMA Hour, Eric Nicksick revealed how 'The Predator' injured his knee. During a training session, one of Ngannou's training partners went in for a very low single-leg take down, causing the 35-year-old's knee to buckle.

"On Tuesday, Francis was standing southpaw, he was kind of piecing him up a little bit and I could tell the guy [training partner] was getting anxious so the guy shot a very, very low single... It was really low and went on to Francis' lead leg which was his right leg being southpaw and with the shin pads and knee pads on, the knee kind of buckled."

'The Predator' gritted his way through the pain and managed to see out the session. An MRI taken later revealed that Francis Ngannou had suffered a torn MCL and a damaged ACL.

Coach Eric Nicksick on when Francis Ngannou injured his knee.
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Francis Ngannou's UFC future is still up in the air despite his win on Saturday. Ngannou's contract expires in December of this year, and both parties appear to be at an impasse. With 'The Predator' becoming one of the biggest draws in the UFC, it might behoove both parties to come to an agreement.

Check out the entire episode of the MMA Hour below: