Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou and interim champ Ciryl Gane are continuing to talk about each other’s fighting style leading up to their main event.
The two seem to have mutual respect for one another, as they’ve each given the other praise. Gane stated Ngannou is the “most powerful and athletic human” he’s ever seen. Ngannou returned the compliment and admired Gane for possessing the best kickboxing style in MMA.
Thursday on his YouTube channel, Ngannou was asked about middleweight champion Israel Adesanya’s fighting style, to which Ngannou responded by taking a jab at Gane. Ngannou compared the two’s similar kickboxing styles and stated that Adesanya is a better version of Gane.
“He’s (Adesanya) a great guy, the best striker in the game, definitely,” said Ngannou. “Because when you look at his style, he just does everything that Ciryl does but in a better way.”
Ngannou stated that he even tried to get Adesanya to come help train with him in preparations of facing a kick-boxing-styled heavyweight in Gane. Ngannou claims that the reason he couldn’t get “The Last Stylebender” over was due to the strict travel restrictions where Adesanya resides in New Zealand.
“By the way, I (tried) to get him for this training camp, but travel restrictions with New Zealand wasn’t really helpful for us,” said Ngannou “But he would have loved to come here and help me for the striking part of the game, the footwork and everything.”
Gane and Adesanya are some of the highest-leveled kickboxers in the UFC, with names like Stephen Thompson, Joanna Jędrzejczyk, Valentina Schevchenko, and many others being up there with them.
Ngannou and Gane are just a few weeks away from finally fighting for the heavyweight championship, which will be held on January 22nd. Ngannou (16-3) will be looking to make his first title defense since securing UFC gold when he KO’d Stipe Miocic at UFC 260. As for Gane, he will be looking to take the word “interim” off of his current title and become the undisputed heavyweight king with a win over Ngannou.
Who do you think has the better kickboxing style between Ciryl Gane and Israel Adesanya?
