A rivalry is really starting to form between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane.
This is not something that has been the case for long, but Ngannou has gone on record to voice his frustrations with the UFC over the way they handled Gane and Derrick Lewis fighting for the interim heavyweight title. In their promotion of this fight, they painted a picture of the heavyweight champ choosing not to defend his title because he was on vacation, when he was just looking to fight about a month later.
Now, it seems that Ngannou is beginning to take this out on Gane to a certain extent too, as seen backstage at UFC 268. Video emerged that shows the heavyweight champ and the interim champ having a brief encounter that saw Ngannou give Gane the cold shoulder, walking past him without any acknowledgement, leaving the French fighter stunned and confused.
On the one hand, it is hard to not feel for both Fancis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane in this situation. While Gane has not necessarily done anything wrong, only accepting the opportunities that were gifted him, Ngannou may feel like he is a part of the situation that disrespected him, meaning that he looks as Gane as an enemy.
Either way, the look on the face of Gane was that of surprise, as few expected to see this type of animosity between these two heavyweight behemoths. Surprising or not though, they will have the chance to settle the score when Ngannou steps into the Octagon and attempts to defend his title and get revenge on the UFC for the way he feels they have slighted him, hopefully at UFC 270, early next year.
