UFC 270 – Ngannou Grapples To Retain Title “My Ground Game Is Now Evolving And I’m Gonna Be On Another Level.”

By
Kevin Caulfield
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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.

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.

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.

// 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


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