Francis Ngannou quickly admitted Ciryl Gane looked great at UFC Fight Night 209, but the UFC heavyweight champion said it’s difficult to be too impressed with someone he already beat.
In the first UFC event ever in his home country, France’s Gane (11-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) defeated Tai Tuivasa (15-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) via third-round knockout in a wild barn burner. Ngannou (17-3 MMA, 12-2 UFC), who also has spent significant time living in France, was present cage-side for the chaotic main event contender fight.
“That fight was very electric, though,” Ngannou said on the ESPN+ post-fight show. “There were good actions in the fight. At some point, you see the fight was half-half and then it switched back to Ciryl’s side, which is what I thought. As far as distance, he’s good at controlling that and he was able to apply that in the fight tonight. You can see the body (shots), that’s what got him the victory. It was just like strategic, technical type of fight.”
The most recent title challenger for Ngannou’s UFC heavyweight strap was his former training partner Gane. The two big men fought at UFC 270 in January. Ngannou picked up a unanimous decision win, which is why his praise for Gane can only go so far.
“I know he’s a great fighter,” Ngannou said. “It’s hard to respond to that question for the guy that I beat – if I’m impressed with him. He’s here for a reason. I fought him for a reason because he was probably the No. 1 contender. Yes, he’s good, but I’m the champ. Yeah, so it’s really hard to be impressed.”
While Gane asserted himself as the No. 1 UFC-ranked contender at heavyweight, Ngannou looks at a number of different options for his next fight. With Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones seemingly nearing returns, Ngannou has options – though nothing set yet as he continues to recover from knee surgery.
“I don’t have any whispers right now,” Ngannou said. “I don’t have any timeline or exact timeline for the return. I’m going to see the doctor one week from now. I’m following up with the doctor to see how it’s going. But it’s going pretty good. But you have to give it some time. It’s not like it’s going to be great. It’s been five months. (I need to) kind of have some more time.”
