UFC 270: Champ Francis Ngannou delivers stunning prediction for Ciryl Gane

From a young age UFC champ Francis Ngannou felt out of place due to the power in his hands – then he stepped into the octagon and it all made sense.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 27: Francis Ngannou of Cameroon poses for a portrait after his victory during the UFC 260 event at UFC APEX on March 27, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC)

So when did Francis Ngannou truly come to understand his power?

Maybe it was aged 19, when trying to open a door one time and he ripped the handle clean off.

“Just broke in my hand,” he recalls.

Or maybe it was even younger, when this then oversized Cameroon kid would shake people’s hands only to have them complain.

“Everything was so weird,” Ngannou remembers.

“At the time, I wasn’t even a fighter.

“But I was getting so much bigger than my friends.

“They all seemed so small, even the older ones, and a lot of times when I was with them I’d lean back against the wall (to appear smaller).

“I couldn’t play with them either because I was too brutal. I didn’t mean to be though, and it would get me frustrated.

“I also started to do things more lightly than what I thought was normal, because I realised what I thought was normal wasn’t the same for other people.

“It took me a very long time to find a balance.”

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UFC heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou. (Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC)

Now aged 35, on a run of five straight knockouts and set to defend his UFC heavyweight crown for the first time, Ngannou is undoubtedly a story about power.

Most notably, of course, in those oversized hands.

Which entering Sunday’s UFC 270 headliner against hyped French rival Ciryl Gane, have seen him stop Stipe Miocic, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Junior dos Santos, Cain Velasquez and Curtis Blaydes.

These are the hands UFC president Dana White once likened to being struck by a Ford Escort at full tilt.

Or a 12-pound sledgehammer swung from overhead.

.@francis_ngannou landing one of the most devastating uppercuts in @ufc history against Alistair Overeem

(🔊Sound On 🔊) pic.twitter.com/dmVCRwqaku

— UFC Strike (@UFCStrikeNFT) January 20, 2022

A truth proved back in 2017, when Ngannou finished Alistair Overeem with a left hook so severe commentator Joe Rogan likened it to being “electrocuted”.

But Ngannou is also chasing a different power this Sunday, too.

As UFC champion, The Predator is not only demanding bigger fight purses from the company, but also the opportunity to box Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua or Deontay Wilder by the end of this year.

Elsewhere, Ngannou has the opportunity to silence not only Las Vegas bookmakers, who have listed him the +115 outsider against rising star Gane, but also former coach Fernand Lopez, who now working the corner of his rival has been extremely vocal leading into one of the biggest fights in UFC heavyweight history.

Francis Ngannou strikes Alistair Overeem during UFC 218. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Asked if Lopez provided Gane with an advantage this weekend, Ngannou replied: “No, because he doesn’t know me.

“He knows who he wants to know. Or who he wanted to become himself.”

So not surprised by his being so vocal?

“No, because I know the man,” the champ continued. “And that is what he loves.

“Being a coach is not enough for him. He wants the fight to be more about him than his fighter.

“And that is exactly what is happening now.”

Which isn’t to say Lopez, Gane, even the bookies can’t be silenced.

They can.

Again, with power.

“And I have that feeling,” Ngannou says when quizzed on Sunday’s UFC 270 blockbuster. “I see myself knocking Ciryl Gane out within two rounds.”

Originally published as UFC 270: Champ Francis Ngannou delivers stunning prediction for Ciryl Gane