Francis Ngannou has revealed that doctors advised him not to compete in the headlining bout for UFC 270 against former teammate Ciryl Gane.
The champ explained on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, that he suffered a Grade 3 MCL tear and a damaged ACL prior to his title fight with “Bon Gamin”. After going into further detail on the show, he shared that a pre-fight doctor actually advised him not to compete at UFC 270.
Following his victory against Ciryl Gane, Francis Ngannou has been the talk of the town. From digging up sand in Africa to UFC heavyweight champion, the story of “The Predator” is a remarkable one. He lost to former two-time heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic when he was presented with his first title opportunity in 2018.
It appeared that he took some lessons from his fight with Miocic. After realizing a grappling discrepancy in the third round, Ngannnou managed to control Gane for more than 8-minutes of the fight.
Upon securing his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic last March, Francis Ngannou had undergone major adjustments in his MMA game. The patience and grappling of the Cameroonian seemed to be more on par with his striking than ever before.
As one of the hardest hitters in the UFC, Francis Ngannou entered his UFC 270 title bout with a 100 percent finishing rate. However, it was the steady evolution he’s made during his UFC tenure which led to the in-cage success against Gane.
Francis Ngannou Reveals Doctors Wanted To Pull Him Pre-Fight
Instead of using his hands and striking ability, Ngannou managed to implement effective takedowns after losing the first two rounds to Gane. As it would turn out, the Cameroonian is suffering injuries to his knee which makes the adaptation in the third round all the more impressive. Ngannou mentioned on the program that despite his knee being compromised, he felt capable enough to stay on the card and fight.
Francis Ngannou reveals he saw a doctor four days before #UFC270 and the doctor told him not to fight. Ngannou's response?
"I know it won't be easy, but it will be possible." #TheMMAHour
— Shaheen Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) January 24, 2022
“Francis Ngannou reveals he saw a doctor four days before #UFC270 and the doctor told him not to fight. Ngannou’s response? “I know it won’t be easy, but it will be possible.” Shaheen Al-Shatti shared on Twitter.
According to Ngannou, the doctor in question mentioned that if he absorbs a kick to his damaged knee, irreversible damage is certainly a possibility. In the end, he remained on the card and notched the first title defense of his UFC career by outpointing Ciryl Gane en route to a unanimous decision victory.
“I believe in myself. I’ve been through a lot of stuff in my life. That must be a dumb decision, but I didn’t want to withdraw from this fight. I was very confident about my skills to win this fight.” he told Ariel Helwani.
