Francis Ngannou’s fight against Ciryl Gane was the main attraction in UFC 270. Ngannou’s title was on the line in that bout. And with Ngannou’s current distraction from MMA things could go out of his hand.
Everyone also thought that this time Ngannou will have to sacrifice his longtime partner championship title. But he did come back astonishingly and surprised everyone. It’s been a few days since the fight is over, but the thrill and talk are still all over the media. And recently Dana White reveals his thoughts on the game and how he was stunned by seeing the fighting techniques of Ngannou.
The year is still in its early stage before the fight White didn’t think it won’t be the fight that people remember. He wasn’t paying much attention to that game. Not only White but everyone thought it’s gonna be a regular match.
He said later in an interview that he thought that’s gonna be a more like stand-up game and nobody will remember the match for years. But the way Ngannou pulled that off was brilliant and phenomenal. White was really surprised and praised Ngannou’s fighting plans and the way Ngannou defends his heavyweight championship title.
Ngannou was awarded by the White with “The Predator” credit for executing an effective game plan.
In the first two rounds, Ngannou had to work very to find his ground. He wasn’t able to hit back Gane. The situation was in control of Gane. At the beginning of the game, Gane’s fight IQ was on the display. And Gane was able to prevent Ngannou’s power punching by a clinch-heavy game plan. That could make him the hero of the night at any time. Plus, Gane kept kicking Ngannou’s body and leg. Things go on like that for two rounds.
In the third round, Ngannou threw a curveball. He managed to put Ngannou on the ground for the very time in his career. Though it didn’t make much damage to Gane. But Ngannou kept following his new strategy to fight back Gane. And after the 5th round, Ngannou saw the victory.
Ngannou suffered from a huge knee injury during the preparation of this fight. That’s why he was a bit slow against Gane.
Why didn’t Dana White present the title to Ngannou and why he was absent at the post-fight presser?
White wasn’t there at the time of presenting the title to the Ngannou and was also absent while Ngannou gave the post-fight interview. Well, that thing created huge controversy and rumor that White wasn’t there cause he had some personal issue with Ngannou.
And there is good reason to say so cause of the Ngannou dispute deal UFC. Many fans thought that White wasn’t happy to see the victory of Ngannou. But White later confirmed in an interview that his absence has nothing to do with it at all.
White says, “I actually walked out of the arena right after the co-main event because there was stuff going on that I was dealing with. For anybody to think I was showing any type of disrespect toward Francis, I saw Francis all week, you idiots. I shook his hand. I said hi to him. I was out there for the staredowns, the whole thing. So for anybody to think that there was some type of disrespect toward Francis, I wasn’t out there for Michael Bisping vs. Luke Rockhold’s fight, either, because I was dealing with some stuff.”
