Ciryl Gane Expects Decision Win Over Francis Ngannou, Ngannou Reflects On How He’s Improved

Ciryl Gane is poised to defeat UFC heavyweight champion at UFC 270 on January 22.

The challenger claims to don the UFC strap for the first time in his career with a decision win over the Predator.

Gane has been undefeated in his pro-MMA career so far, unlike Ngannou who has been defeated thrice.

In a recent interview, the Frenchman admitted that Ngannou is a tough competitor, but he will overwhelm him.

“The prediction, a tough fight. A really tough fight… At the finish, after all the rounds, I’m going to win by decision,” Gane said.

Gane is coming off a KO victory against the knockout artist, Derrick Lewis.

This win raised his stocks and turned him into the title challenger with Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones out of the picture for now.

As for squaring off against one of the scariest fighters on the plant, Gane knows how strong Ngannou is, but that doesn’t put him off at all.

“This does not scare me. You see with Derrick Lewis, he has big knockout power, Derrick Lewis is a beast too, but it was not a problem,” the Frenchman said. “When you look at the fight, I stayed inside like that, with the punches it was not a problem. He’s a heavyweight like me, I can punch too, like that. No, it’s not a problem with me. This really does not scare me.”

Ngannou, meanwhile, took to Instagram on Tuesday and said that his loss to Miocic made him into a better fighter. He said he doesn’t think he would’ve became a heavyweight champion without it.

“Almost 4 years ago I came out very short for my first title challenge against the great Stipe Miocic, but I realized that night that even though it wasn’t the outcome that I wanted, I knew that I didn’t lose,” Ngannou wrote on Instagram.

“Not because I wasn’t even close on the scorecard, but because I knew that I learned more in one night than I’ve learned in the past 4 years in the sport.”