ANAHEIM, Calif. – While old sparring footage of Francis Ngannou trading strikes with his upcoming opponent recently surfaced, the UFC heavyweight champion revealed there is a reason why only a short clip is out there.
In the main event of UFC 270 on Saturday, Ngannou (16-3 MMA, 11-2 UFC) will face a former training partner in interim champ Ciryl Gane, with whom he trained in the past at MMA Factory in Paris. Ahead of their heavyweight title unification bout, a short clip of a sparring session with Gane (10-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) began making the rounds in which it appeared Gane may have bested Ngannou.
“It wasn’t sparring footage. It was a clip of the sparring footage,” Ngannou explained Wednesday during the UFC 270 media day. “Because the footage doesn’t look that good.”
