Francis Ngannou will defend his heavyweight title against undefeated Frenchman Ciryl Gane this weekend.
In the UFC's first pay-per-view event of the year, we'll see one of the more highly anticipated heavyweight fights since the Brock Lesnar era.
The man who holds the word record for the most powerful punch, Ngannou is set to become a free agent after the fight amid claims he could face boxing heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in a crossover contest.
Ngannou has been a dominant force in the UFC with five consecutive wins all coming by way of an early knockout.
But he'll comeup against one of the more exciting prospects in the undefeated Gane - who recently secured an impressive victory over Derrick Lewis.
Here, a number of fighters and experts have given their prediction.
Joe Rogan
Whilst UFC commentator and popular podcast host Joe Rogan never predicts the fights, he broke down the match-up, saying that whilst Ngannou has overwhelming power, he believes Gane has a strong chance of beating Ngannou.
He said: “You have a guy who is arguably one of the best physical specimens we have ever seen in the heavyweight division in Ngannou. He has excellent technique and ridiculous power. But he doesn’t have the movement that Gane has.
“The question is can Francis deal with the movement? The way he moves is something special.
“At first I thought Ngannou’s power would be too much, but Gane is the best moving heavyweight I have ever seen.”
Michael Bisping
Like Rogan, Bisping said he struggled to pick a winner out of the two dynamic heavyweights and stated that he wouldn't be surprised if it went either way.
He said: “So, we’ve got Francis [Ngannou], and we’ve got Ciryl Gane. Who’s gonna win that? I don’t know. You've got power vs. skill. You've got finesse vs. force. You could go on all day, couldn’t you? It’s gonna be an interesting fight; it really is. Of course, the guys know each other."
Tai Tuivasa
Heavyweight Tai Tuivasa is making a name for himself within the UFC after a few highlight wins.
The Australian notably drinks beer out of a shoe in the ring after his victories.
Tuivasa said on InsideFighting (via Sportskeeda): “Yeah, they are two freaks. You know what I mean. I think I have said the other day…I think if Ciryl plays the long game at points and can stay away from Francis, I think he might win over the five rounds.
“But that’s harder than it sounds, you know what I mean. If Francis touches him or lands one of those massive shots, I think we’ve all seen what Fancis does. He might put him out. Like, that’s, again, another 50-50."
Anthony Smith
UFC light-heavyweight Anthony Smith has backed the young talent to have his hand raised as champion next month and believes he is capable of matching the ability of any heavyweight.
Smith told SiriusXM: “I think Ciryl Gane is the real deal. I’m making the bold prediction, I think Ciryl Gane beats Francis Ngannou, and I think he does it fairly handily. I also think Ciryl Gane beats Jon Jones.”
Kevin Holland
Kevin Holland picked Ngannou to win the fight.
He said: “I met Francis quite a few times, seems like a pretty cool guy. We actually had a funny little interview not too long ago, so yeah, it'd be nice to see Francis put that knockout power there [and] get the job done.
"Me personally, I would like to sit frontside for a Derrick Lewis - Francis rematch. So yeah, I'd like to see Francis get the job done and then see that fight, yeah. That'd be pretty cool."
