Francis NgannouFREDERIC J. BROWN/Getty Images
If you had “Francis Ngannou gets a leglock escape” on your UFC bingo card, congratulations.
On Saturday in the main event of UFC 270, the heavyweight champion and baddest man on the planet brought a deeper bag of tricks to the cage than he ever had before. He needed all of them to overcome a game if uninspiring Cyril Gane to retain his title in Anaheim, California.
Neither man landed 20 strikes in any single round, according to UFC stats. Offense was a premium, meaning a few pivotal moments could make all the difference. More often than not, it was a burst of much-improved wrestling from Ngannou—and one crucial misstep from Gane—that led to Ngannou’s 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 unanimous decision victory.
“I knew he was going to be a tough opponent. …I had to stay composed,” Ngannou told broadcaster and podcasting super-celebrity Joe Rogan after the fight. “Calm down. Don’t chase him, trust yourself and, yeah man, we did it. It’s been an incredible journey.”
Gane is a smart fighter with an effective read-and-react style in the cage. His footwork—downright Lomachenko-esque for an MMA heavyweight—is exceptional. But he’s not always fun to watch.
In the first round, as Ngannou pressed forward, Gane kept moving around the cage, switching stances and directions as he did so and basically doing whatever he good to mesmerize Ngannou. Gane outworked the champ overall and likely took the first on most fan scorecards.
The second round picked up where the first left off. It was entirely too late at night for it to be one of those fights. But there it was, positively plodding. As Ngannou huffed and puffed, Gane outlanded him 19-10, according to the official stats.
Oh no, here came the third, and there was Gane touch-kicking the champ as Ngannou simply refused to pull the trigger. It was indeed one of those fights.
But then at about the 4:15 mark, Ngannou charged forward, scooped up Gane and body-slammed him to the ground, landing in perfect side control. Gane worked his way up to standing, only for Ngannou to hit another one at roughly the 2:20 mark.
“My ground game is now evolving,” Ngannou told Rogan. “And I’m going to be on another level.”
Gane started the fourth with more sticking and moving, only to see Ngannou land two more takedowns that led to nearly three combined minutes of control time.
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Then came what looked to be a decisive fifth round. With Ngannou gassing hard, Gane still appeared hesitant to make the first move. About a minute into the action, Gane went for a takedown and got it.
Then, for the first time in the fight, Gane took a gamble, and it didn’t go his way.
From top position, Gane reached for Ngannou’s leg to try for a leglock submission. Ngannou reversed the position to get on top, and just like that Gane’s advantage in the sequence was gone. The rest of the round was lackluster, with Ngannou again managing the action with control time.
“It was a moment for me to make a statement, and to remind people I’m the champ,” Ngannou told Rogan. “You guys might sleep on me, you kind of forget about me.”
That doesn’t seem true. He’s now 17-3 and hasn’t lost since 2018. Before this fight, he had five straight knockouts. His work with super-coach Trevor Wittman—also the coach of welterweight and pound-for-pound kingpin Kamaru Usman, who was in the champ’s corner Saturday—is paying dividends.
There’s also the small matter of his contract.
As many fans know, that was the last fight on his UFC contract, and another one seems far away if their public statements are to be believed. Would Ngannou really box Tyson Fury? Could he possibly go to another MMA promotion?
Ngannou also addressed that issue after the fight, and while he stopped short of making any hard proclamations, he did hint that he might be wearing heavier gloves in the near future.
“Boxing is always in the back of my pocket. It is something that I must do before the end of my career,” Ngannou said. “And right now I’m really looking toward any opportunity to do that. Because it’s not like I have a lifetime here. I better start thinking about it.”
Ngannou is one in a small handful of fighters with a claim to be the world’s most famous non-McGregor fighter. If UFC brass wants to keep him—perhaps for an ultra-high-wattage matchup with Jon Jones—they’ll have to pony up.
Saturday’s win may not make as many highlight reels, but it sure had a lot of grit between its teeth. It cemented Ngannou as someone with the tenacity, smarts and heart to win when the main weapon isn’t working. That’s championship-level stuff, no matter what sport you’re playing.
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