UFC's Gane has edge on Ngannou
By
Lou Finocchiaro (Point Spread Weekly)
FRANCIS NGANNOU + 125 VS. CIRYL GANE -145
Heavyweight (256 pounds) championship
The story between these two fighters is layered, lengthy and complex. Suffice it to say that there are several tangible and intangible aspects to this unification bout.
One tangible aspect is that both fighters have trained together under Gane’s current coach, Fernand Lopez. No one understands Ngannou as well as Lopez.
One intangible aspect is the friction between Ngannou and the UFC, which has existed almost from the time he won the belt against Stipe Miocic to present, intensifying when the UFC allowed Gane to grab the interim title.
Ngannou is a huge, sculpted man standing 6-foot-4 and tipping the scales for his most recent bout at 263 pounds. He’s fit, profusely powerful and his plan of attack is simple: Find a way to touch the opponent. Ngannou is a soft-spoken and extremely polite person, but don’t confuse his meekness outside the cage with his destructive powers within.
Ngannou is a tremendous specimen who has risen from a cycle of poverty, then eventually landed in Paris, where he taught himself to box. Today Ngannou remains in the development stages of being a refined mixed martial artist, which is scary because of the improvements sure to come.
Currently Ngannou’s effectiveness revolves around explosive quickness coupled with power striking. To date, he is not very versed in wrestling/grappling.
For Ngannou, any bout’s blueprint is simple: Keep the fight standing, move forward in order to seek, touch and destroy.
Gane is a polished mixed martial artist whose MMA foundation comes from the fact that he played soccer and basketball as a youth then developed a specialization in Muay Thai striking. Gane possesses natural athleticism, and the leg strength he developed playing those sports have gifted the 6-3 fighter with fluid, deft athleticism, which translates into the ability to maneuver like a man 50 pounds lighter.