Francis Ngannou-Ciryl Gane clash headlines UFC 270 card

After an excellent UFC Vegas 46 card to open the year, the Ultimate Fighting Championship opens its 2022 pay-per-view schedule in Anaheim, California at the Honda Center.

On Saturday, January 22, the capacity crowd of 18,336 fans will be treated to an incredible night of fights headlined by a battle between champions and former sparring partners, as undisputed UFC Heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou takes on interim Heavyweight champion, 10-0 Ciryl Gane.

Ngannou could be considered the ultimate rags to riches story in all of sports. From Cameroon, where Ngannou grew up and worked in the sand mines in his adolescent years, to France, where the future champion would be homeless for a short time. While in France, Ngannou met Factory MMA head coach Fernand Lopez and the rest was history. Ngannou would become one of the most powerful heavyweights in the UFC with the help of sparring partner Gane.

On his meteoric rise to the top of the division, Ngannou scored knockout victories over some of the legends of MMA including Cain Velasquez, Alistair Overeem and Junior Dos Santos. Following back-to-back losses to Stipe Miocic at UFC 220 and Derrick Lewis at UFC 226 respectively, Ngannou switched camps and moved to Las Vegas to work with Xtreme Couture under the direction of coach Eric Nicksick. The change of scenery has seemed to unlock Ngannou’s full potential, increasing his patience, speed and footwork. Since moving to Las Vegas, the predator has rolled to a 5-fight win streak including a victory by knockout in the rematch with Miocic in UFC 260 in March 2021, earning himself his first taste of UFC gold.

With the departure of Ngannou, the MMA Factory’s new prodigy was Gane. The Frenchman has been completely dominant since entering the UFC after just three professional fights. Gane’s combination of size, speed and percision in striking is something UFC had arguably never seen before. For example, at UFC 265 when the UFC gave Gane an interim title shot due to contact disputes with Ngannou, Gane put on a masterclass as Gane’s speed and precision left Lewis helpless unable to land many strikes at all.

UFC president Dana White described the matchup between Gane and Ngannou as “Raw power versus technique.” While Ngannou has shown immense power throughout his UFC career with 12 knockouts in his 16 victories overall, Gane is undoubtably the more accurate striker with a significant strike accuracy of over 60% while Ngannou’s strike accuracy percentage is just above 40%.

An interesting angle to follow for this fight is Ngannou’s ongoing contract dispute with the UFC. When asked late last week in an interview with Brett Okamoto of ESPN about his contract status, Ngannou said “it’s over.” Essentially the champion wants more money per fight and boxing options built in to his contract, potentially angling himself for a boxing match with Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. In what could be the predator’s final time gracing in the octagon, there are questions swirling. Will he score another knockout? Or will Gane’s speed and precision be too much to handle? For Ngannou, there is no question what the outcome will be when it is all over Saturday night, “The champ stays champ.”

In the co-main event, a score will be settled once and for all as the trilogy between Flyweight champion Brandon “The Assassin Baby” Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo concludes. This will be the third time in just 406 days that the two men have squared off. Saturday’s co-main event also marks the first time in UFC history that a trilogy will be completed in consecutive fights. When asked about the historical importance of this fight, Moreno said “it’s definitely special, this fight will define my legacy. Obviously, I want to win, but a lot of credit goes to Figueiredo and what we’re doing together.”

This rivalry has truly been epic from the very beginning, starting at UFC 256 in December 2020, when the two combatants battled to a majority draw as Moreno stepped into the octagon on three weeks’ notice. In June 2021 at UFC 263 for the final chapter of the trilogy, the Brazilian looks to be in the best shape of his life. Moreno out of Tijuana, became the first Mexican-born champion in UFC history after defeating Figueiredo in a decent sized upset.

In recent months, Figueiredo has blamed his lackluster performance in the rematch on the difficulty of the weight cut to 125 pounds. As Figueiredo prepares, he has also enlisted the help of Olympic gold medalist and future UFC Hall of Famer Henry Cejudo to bolster his wrestling. It is unclear whether the improvements Figueiredo made will result in the Brazilian finally getting his title back, but one thing is for sure both title fights on this UFC 270 card should be phenomenal fights.

With that being said, the title fights aren’t the only intriguing thing about Saturday’s card. There will be plenty of new talent making their debut in the UFC. Eight fighters are set to make their debut Saturday night, which is the most debuts on a numbered event since UFC 180 in 2014 according to Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie. UFC fans won’t want to miss this action-packed card, beginning with the early prelims at 6 p.m. The Prelims will be at 8 p.m. on ESPN. Lastly, the main card will be at 10 p.m. on ESPN Plus.