Ciryl Gane put up an absolute masterpiece against Derrick Lewis as he picked up a stoppage win over the former title challenger to become the new interim heavyweight champion of the world.
Ciryl Gane will now face Francis Ngannou in an attempt to become the new UFC heavyweight champion of the world. The former training partners will share the Octagon to determine the new undisputed champion in what promises to be an exciting match-up at the UFC’s 205-pound division.
Here’s my take on whether Ciryl Gane has what it takes to beat Francis Ngannou.
Ciryl Gane can beat Francis Ngannou
Ciryl Gane is an anomaly at the UFC’s heavyweight division. He moves like a middleweight and has a fight IQ that proceeds anybody we have ever seen in recent times. Gane’s incredible performance against Jaizinho Rzoenstruik, Alexander Volkov, and recently against Derrick Lewis proved how much he has improved in such a short MMA career.
While it’s safe to say that Gane’s prior experience as a training partner of Francis Ngannou is definite to help him in his fight against Francis Ngannou. However, a case can be made that sparring reveals very little of what the actual fight might look like. While sparring videos doing rounds on the internet shows Ciryl Gane comfortably dominating Francis Ngannou to some extent, it’s a different story when you walk inside the Octagon.
Stipe Miocic has already shown the blueprint to beat Francis Ngannou, however, he wasn’t able to do that in the rematch. Needless to say, Ngannou has improved a lot in his last few fights, having shown great resilience, incredible patience, and takedown defense that significantly reduces his weaknesses inside the cage.
Ciryl Gane is quick on his feet and if we compare that to a heavyweight, he is extremely fast. When was the last time you saw a heavyweight fighter jump around on his toes? Never! Francis Ngannou, while a great boxer, relies heavily on his power.
View this post on Instagram
However, so is Derrick Lewis and Gane’s incredible range control, and his ability to move away from the threat showed presence of mind despite the challenge of a knockout artist with the heavyweight title on the line.
If there’s anyone right now who can beat Francis Ngannou, it has to be Ciryl Gane, and while one punch from Ngannou is all it takes, it will be interesting to see whether Ngannou can land that one punch on Gane when they share the Octagon in the near future.