I really want Ngannou to take this, I love the guy (and may also have a bet with one of my buds ) But every day closer to the fight I get more nervous, Gane seems like a stylistic nightmare for anybody currently at heavyweight, how can Ngannou win?
Gane by TKO in the 2nd or 3rd. Ciryl will be on death's door in the opening round, but he'll come back and end it the same way he did the Lewis fight. People are convinced that Francis became a grappling phenom and championship-level boxer in between the Rozenstruik and Miocic fight, but I think you can chalk that up to Stipe's questionable ring IQ. When Francis charged at Rozenstruik, he got countered with 3-4 great shots. If he gives Ciryl that same opportunity it'll be a done deal. It's hard to root for Ngannou based on how entitled and spoiled he's been acting lately, especially that awkward moment at the last UFC event.
Imo Gane will outclass Ngannou with his elite all round skills. Ngannou has a punchers chance especially early but his skills are pretty awful really. I might be wrong but I would be surprised if Gane doesn't win.
Gane is going to totally school Ngannou. Totally different levels skill wise. This is going to be Fury/Wilder in MMA minus all of the knockdowns. I don't think Ngannou is going to land clean on Gane.
Gane is going starch that arrogant caveman with a devastating counter hook as he’s wading in with his windmill punches.
I never gave Gane that much stock, I don't see the hype? I've been out of touch with MMA for a long time now, but have not seen anything special from Gane. I think Ngannou has the type of power to flatten anyone. If he is still in top form, I'll back Ngannou. Happy to be wrong, not a fan of either anyway.
Gane looked great vs Lewis. But I just don't know with Ngannou's power. It's a toss up. I've seen some really bad technique by Ngannou so I would never be surprised if someone clips him.
If Gane can keep the distance and hit and not get hit the first round or 2, Francis will start to gas from his own nervous energy if he keeps getting tagged and can't land one himself. Hope that happens, Francis has a huge ego problem. Already wanting more money yet there is a chance he goes to slepp tomorrow and then go on a slide again.
The biggest problem Ngannou has in the matchup is that he bites on feints so much and is really a guy who needs a rythm to get his style going. All those feints and traps will confuse him. If you actually watch HOW Ngannou fights and HOW he got all those crazy KO's you can see that he's landing the KO shot usually when other fighters attack him or do bad mistakes in the offense. Mostly because they panic and think closing the distance is a good option/choice but it isn't. I think the only exception was the Rozenstruik fight where he just rushed forward and clipped Rozen at the cage. Gane is different. Gane is as calm as it gets and his style is based on point fighting. He's all about feints and traps. He sets them up so well and he's an absolute master tactician. Of course Ngannou could land the one punch KO but i just don't see it. Gane is probably an ATG heavyweight in MMA (in the future obviously) and i don't see him losing the title anytime soon if he wins tonight. And we shouldn't forget that Gane might have another path to victory in taking the fight to the ground. He's probably a couple of levels above Ngannou on the mat. But i'm not even banking on that. Personally i have a massive bet on Gane at -108. His price dropped to -150 now so i'm not recommending a bet on that line but i just don't see how this is a pick em'. People claiming "Ngannou always has the 50/50 chance to land his shots"...lmfao. Yeah. I guess you can say that EVERYONE has a 50/50 chance of landing that one punch knockout then lmfao. Yeah, of course....he hits harder than the average fighter but still. His technique is awful. Good luck landing and biting on the feints.
