Mixed Martial Arts-Ngannou out-wrestles Gane to retain heavyweight crown

(Reuters) – Francis Ngannou out-grappled Cyril Gane at UFC 270 in Anaheim, California on Saturday evening to retain his UFC heavyweight crown earlier than wrestling with questions on his future amid a feud with the promotion over his contract.

Famed for his scary knockout energy, the Senegalese fighter modified tack to take care of the specter of his former sparring companion Gane to win a call victory earlier than revealing that he had torn knee ligaments within the run-up to the struggle.

“In case you really feel like there’s an opportunity that you are able to do it (struggle), then you need to do it. I consider in myself, I’ve been by means of plenty of stuff in my life,” Ngannou informed a press convention.

The 35-year-old was homeless for a interval after transferring to France to turn out to be a boxer earlier than coach Fernand Lopez launched him to the MMA Manufacturing facility gymnasium in Paris, permitting him to sleep there whereas moulding him into one of many sport’s most feared fighters.

Regardless of being the defending champion, Ngannou’s purse for the title defence was $600,000 in line with the California State Athletic Fee, a fraction of what he may earn from a boxing match with the likes of Tyson Fury.

That price doesn’t embrace any attainable share of pay-per-view revenues that Ngannou could have been entitled to, however the fighter feels he deserves extra.

“It’s not merely cash. Clearly, cash is part of it nevertheless it’s additionally the phrases of the contract, I don’t agree with it, I don’t really feel prefer it’s truthful, I don’t really feel like I’m free, I don’t really feel like I’ve been handled good,” Ngannou informed reporters.

UFC president Dana White didn’t attend the post-fight press convention.

Within the co-main occasion, Brazil’s Deiveson Figueiredo scored a unanimous choice victory over Brandon Moreno to win again the flyweight belt that he misplaced to the Mexican the final time the 2 met in June 2021.

(Reporting by Philip O’Connor; Enhancing by Gareth Jones)