Francis Ngannou was grappling from the very first round as he fought his way to a successful heavyweight title defense.
The first two rounds seemed to go to Gane, but in the 3rd round it was Ngannou’s grappling that swayed the momentum in his direction. First, Ngannou body slammed Gane and came on top, then played a little jiu-jitsu before coming back to the feet. At the end of the round, he was able to secure another double leg that earned the excitement of DC and the commentators.
Round 4 was a bit of a slower pace, but Ngannou was able to land a few more takedowns. In Round 5 Gane got his own takedown and came on top, but Ngannou recovered closed guard, threatens to attempt a triangle and then sweeps Gane and comes on top! Gane attempts a heel hook that seems to be deep for a moment, but Francis escapes. The heel hook attempt seemed like a great opportunity for Francis to land some heavy shots, but he chose to just come back on top and control the rest of the fight from half mount.
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) January 23, 2022
@Francis_Ngannou is a wrestler now. Be afraid, be very afraid! #UFC270 pic.twitter.com/FLRpawyHMQ
At the end of the fight, Ngannou was 4 for 5 on his takedowns with 8:29 of control time. Ngannou landed 71 total strikes compared to Gane’s 79.
In his post fight interview, Ngannou sang praise to his coaches and acknowledged the growth he’s made in grappling, “My ground game is now evolving and I’m gonna be on another level” He also spoke about transitioning to boxing, “Boxing is always in the back of my bucket, it is something I must do before the end of my career.”
The co-main event sported the first championship fight of 2022 as Deveison Figuerdo regained his Flyweight championship from Brandon Moreno. It was this fight that showed the crowd was absolutely packed to the brim with Mexican fans there to cheer on Moreno.
Both fighters seemed to be just having fun and couldn’t stop smiling. In Round 3, the live betting odds mode to -255 for Moreno as he keeps landing heavy shots on Figuieredo. Moreno landed another high kick before Figueiredo DROPS him at the end of the round and jumps on a choke, probably the most significant strike of the fight until that point, and could have taken away all of the work that Moreno had put in and earned the round for Deiveson.
SAVED BY THE BELL
— UFC (@ufc) January 23, 2022
[ #UFC270 | Main Card LIVE on E+ PPV: https://t.co/Nr2IHwgXWX ] pic.twitter.com/rc0mtpo9Ed
Figuieredo continued to land leg kicks into Round 4 and Moreno was sporting some massive welts, especially on the shin of his lead leg. Ultimately the controversial decision win went to Figueirdo.
This fight is WILD!
— UFC (@ufc) January 23, 2022
[ #UFC270 | Main Card LIVE on E+ PPV: https://t.co/Nr2IHwgXWX ] pic.twitter.com/FftOHOyDbV
𝑹𝑬𝑪𝑳𝑨𝑰𝑴𝑺 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑻𝑯𝑹𝑶𝑵𝑬
— UFC (@ufc) January 23, 2022@Daico_Deiveson becomes #ANDNEW!!!
[ #UFC270 | B2YB @CLMBR_Official ] pic.twitter.com/frKaeMU8Jk
// MAIN CARD //
Francis Ngannou def. Ciryl Gane via Unanimous Decision
Deiveson Figueiredo def. Brandon Moreno (c) via Unanimous Decision
Michel Pereira def. Andre Fialho via Unanimous Decision
Said Nurmagomedov def. Cody Stamann via Submission (Guillotine)
Michael Morales def. Trevin Giles via TKO
// PRELIMS //
Victory Henry def. Raoni Barcelos via Unanimous Decision
Jack Della def. Pete Rodriguez via first-round TKO
Tony Gravely def. Saimon Oliveira via Unanimous Decision
Matt Frevola def. Genaro Valdez via first-round TKO
// EARLY PRELIMS //
Vanessa Demopoulos def. Silvana Gomez Juarez via Submission (Armbar)
Jasmine Jasudavicius def. Kay Hansen via Unanimous Decision
The post UFC 270 – Ngannou Grapples To Retain Title “My Ground Game Is Now Evolving And I’m Gonna Be On Another Level.” appeared first on Jiu-Jitsu Times.