"I'm not seeing me taking him to decision" - Francis Ngannou reveals how he thinks his title unification bout with Ciryl Gane will unfold
Francis Ngannou made a bold prediction of how he sees his upcoming title clash with Ciryl Gane unfolding.
The undisputed UFC heavyweight champion believes he'll do to Gane what he has done to most of his opponents – put him away via knockout. During an interview with Daniel Cormier, Ngannou revealed that he doesn't see any situation in which his fight with Gane goes to a decision. 'The Predator' said:
"This fight might last a few rounds or not, but I'm not seeing me taking him to decision. I'm knocking him out. I mean it's not like I just want to go there to knock him out but I know that at some point it's going to happen... I'm trying to imagine all the possibilities. I'm like 'What [happens in] the first round? Or the second round? Or after this or after that?' It's gonna happen."
Check out Francis Ngannou's prediction for his upcoming fight with Ciryl Gane:
Ngannou will meet Gane for his first title defense in the main event of UFC 270, the promotion's first pay-per-view card of 2022. 'Bon Gamin' secured a championship bout date with Ngannou after capturing the interim heavyweight title against Derrick Lewis at UFC 265.
Francis Ngannou explains why he snubbed Ciryl Gane
A video of Francis Ngannou walking past Ciryl Gane backstage at UFC 268 and completely ignoring him recently went viral. However, Ngannou clarified that he has nothing against his former teammate.
So why did Ngannou avoid interacting with Gane? According to the champ:
“The only thing that bothers me a little bit (was Gane)… and he was right. I would’ve looked confused. Obviously, as his coach said, he’s naive. I would’ve been confused, too, because if… I walked by Gane, I would say hi. If it’s just him, I’d say, ‘Hi, what’s up?'"
Ngannou then explained that his issue was with Gane's coach, Fernand Lopez, who was Ngannou's former mentor as well. Ngannou and Lopez had a falling out in 2018 that led to the heavyweight star's departure from The MMA Factory.