Francis
Ngannou believes Ciryl Gane
might be a problem for Alex
Pereira.
With heavyweight champion Tom
Aspinall recovering from an eye injury, Pereira (13-3) and Gane
(13-2) will fight for the interim heavyweight title at
UFC White House on June 14. Ngannou believes his former
training partner will be the quicker fighter. Meanwhile, Ngannou
predicts that Pereira will be stronger and more stable in his
stance. Ngannou believes Pereira will have a hard time figuring out
how to close the distance against Gane to begin with.
A Contrast in Skill Sets
“Ciryl Gane comes here more with the strategy of a lighter person,”
Ngannou told TMZ Sports. “Because he moves a lot, he is
fast. And I think Alex
Pereira will be more stiff, stable, strong, and solid. Ciryl
will be more fast, moving around, his technique, he’s good at that.
And it’s gonna be very difficult for Alex
Pereira to even get to the distance to figure out what he can
do.”
Ngannou and Gane used to be training partners at the MMA Factory in
Paris under the tutelage of coach Fernand Lopez. However, Ngannou
later parted ways with the gym over a financial dispute with Lopez.
Ngannou later put his heavyweight title on the line against Gane at
UFC 270 in 2022. While Ngannou is a known knockout artist, he
surprisingly used wrestling to stifle Gane’s movement and earn a
unanimous decision win. However, Ngannou believes Gane has since
developed his wrestling and is not to be underestimated on the
ground.