What’s the next step for Ngannou and Gane after UFC 270?

While it was not the banger we hoped for, Ngannou vs Gane at UFC 270 still turned out to be a very interesting fight. Gane showed his potential to be a champion one day. Ngannou showed he had reached a new level of understanding of the game. He was calm,composed and picked his shots. In a surprising turn of events, he showed us the improvement in his wrestling and ground game.

Gane was very calm throughout the fight. He was able to outstrike Ngannou, but, he could not take Francis far out of his comfort zone.

So, what’s the next step for both of the fighters? If you have been following UFC news – and even if you have watched the fight itself, you would have noticed that UFC president Dana White was absent at the end of the fight for Ngannou’s 'coronation'. This may not seem like a big deal – not until you realize Dana always gives the belt to his champions. So, there’s definitely something going on. Ngannou claimed during the post-fight presser he didn’t feel like a free man under the current UFC contract.

So, it’s safe to say that Ngannou and White aren’t exactly on the friendliest of terms. There’s been a lot of friction between the two as of late, as Ngannou strived to get a better contract than the one he was offered. Things became especially heated after rumors came about a proposed Francis Ngannou vs. Jon Jones superfight (the latter of which, coincidentally, is also out of favor with the UFC top brass). Both fighters have demanded tens of millions of dollars for this fight, no doubt inspired by Conor McGregor’s success. And both fighters have hit somewhat of a wall when it comes to negotiations.

Things are even more complicated now that Ngannou defended his belt. It’s said that there’s a clause in the UFC champions’ contracts that forbids them to enter free agency for a certain time period once they’ve won the belt. And if you take a look at the rankings, it’s obvious that Ngannou tore through the entire division like a train. Practically the only option that would seem to make sense at the moment for Ngannou would be to face Stipe Miocic (yet another fighter that’s not fond of Dana White (and the feeling seems to be mutual)) to conclude their trilogy.

And since Ngannou achieved superstardom, super fights have also entered the mix. It’s quite possible that Ngannou may fight the light-heavyweight harbinger of death, Jon Jones himself. There are even talks of Ngannou doing a boxing match against Tyson Fury. But we feel that these two match-ups are a bit too farfetched for now and that the only fight that makes sense for Ngannou at the moment is a rematch against Stipe Miocic.

But where does this leave Ciryl Gane? As you may know already, Gane hasn’t exactly faced any tough opposition on his rise to the top of the UFC’s heavyweight division, either. Prior to the Ngannou fight, Gane was 7-0 in the UFC. And we’re really at a loss when it comes to naming Gane’s next opponent – unless we’re once again talking about Stipe Miocic. If Ngannou sets his sights on a Jon Jones fight or a Tyson Fury fight, then it would make perfect sense if Gane is to be scheduled against Stipe Miocic. There are some exciting fighters in the heavyweight division, such as Tai Tuivasa for example, but they have not climbed far up through the rankings yet. If Ngannou fails to compete again, then a Gane vs. Miocic fight may be even scheduled for an interim belt.

Either way, there are some exciting fights to be made at the top of the heavyweight division – and we sincerely do hope that White and Ngannou will set their differences aside and that Ngannou would get a chance to become one of the most dominant champions in the history of the of UFC’s heavyweight division.