"He's a different fighter" - Randy Couture on whether Ciryl Gane will be able to overcome Francis Ngannou

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Francis Ngannou (left), Randy Couture (central), Ciryl Gane (right) [Images Courtesy: @francisngannou @xcnatch @ciryl_gane on Instagram]

Randy Couture has revealed whether he believes Ciryl Gane will be able to defeat Francis Ngannou.

Gane recently won the interim UFC heavyweight title after defeating Derrick Lewis in July. Ngannou, meanwhile, captured the heavyweight belt earlier this year against Stipe Miocic at UFC 260.

A unification bout between the two men will ideally take place in the near future. However, as of yet, there has been no official announcement.

Former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Randy Couture recently spoke with MMA journalist James Lynch. He discussed whether or not Ciryl Gane would be able to claim the heavyweight title and defeat Francis Ngannou.

"I think he's (Gane) certainly got the horsepower and a puncher's chance. I think the real question is: how do you deal with this Francis? This Francis has got a lot of options now, he's worked very very diligently in the last two years to shore up what he saw as a glaring weakness in his ability to wrestle. To grapple, to stay off the bottom, to not get smothered, to not get taken down. And we saw that in the rematch with Stipe."

You can check out James Lynch's full interview with Randy Couture below:

Couture's assessment of Ngannou's recent improvements can easily be backed up by the comparisons of his two fights with Stipe Miocic. In their first meeting, 'The Predator' was outwrestled and ran out of stamina quickly.

In the rematch, Ngannou was able to utilize defensive wrestling, as well as a more calm pace. That allowed him to maintain the same level of intensity and pick up the KO victory in the second frame.

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How would Francis Ngannou fare against Jon Jones?

The only other potential opponent for Francis Ngannou right now looks to be former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who vacated his title to move up in weight. Jones is a huge pay-per-view draw and the UFC would likely have very few qualms about letting him jump the line ahead of Gane.

Whilst Couture didn't expressly mention Jones' name, he did make a subtle hint about how Francis Ngannou would fare against anyone else at heavyweight right now.

"He's come a long, long way. He's a different fighter than that guy was. So, I think he poses some more interesting problems for anybody in that division right now."

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