The current UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou will clash against interim champion Ciryl Gane for his first title defense. Notably, the Cameroonian has not entered the octagon since beating Ohio-native Stipe Miocic in their rematch. However, ‘The Predator’ wants to make up for the inexperience by toiling hard in the gym.
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The 35-year-old shared a video of him lethally pounding on an MMA grappling dummy during one of his sparring sessions. Meanwhile, Ngannou looked pretty terrifying while practicing his ground and pound maneuvers. He captioned the video, “Hard work and dedication #ufc270.”
Hard work and dedication ☝🏿 #ufc270 pic.twitter.com/O0bVck46vE
— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) December 23, 2021
The Cameroonian took hold of the heavyweight strap back in March of this year at the main event of UFC 260. Notably, the knockout artist beat the former champion through a Ko/Tko punch at the beginning of the second round that pulverized Miocic.
Interestingly, Stipe Miocic handed ‘The Predator’ his first defeat in the UFC back in 2018 in that latter’s first title challenge. Successively, Ngannou lost his next fight to ‘The Black Beast’ Derrick Lewis. Thereafter, the Cameroonian has treaded onto an undefeated path which later earned him the heavyweight gold.
Francis Ngannou takes on Ciryl Gane for his first title defense
‘The Predator’ Francis Ngannou will take on his former sparring partner Ciryl Gane for his first title defense. Notably, the duo will meet in a title unification bout. As ‘Bon Gamin’ is the current interim heavyweight champion of the division. Meanwhile, the 31-year-old became the interim champion after defeating Derrick Lewis in August at UFC 265.
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The interim UFC heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane is riding on a 10-fight winning streak. The Frenchman is currently undefeated in his professional Mixed Martial Arts career.
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Interestingly, he has registered wins over top heavyweight brass as Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Junior Dos Santos, Alexander Volkov and Derrick Lewis.
The bout will take place next year in January. Reportedly, as the main event of the first UFC pay-per-view of 2022-UFC 270: Ngannou vs. Gane.