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UFC 270 results, highlights: Francis Ngannou turns to wrestling to retain heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane
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When the UFC 270 main event between heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and interim champ Ciryl Gane was made official
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it's unlikely anyone expected an Ngannou win to come on the strength of his wrestling and jiu-jitsu.
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ground control to pull away and take a unanimous decision victory inside the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
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Gane came out wanting to grapple with Ngannou, pushing forward and ending up in a clinch hough Ngannou was able to easily fight off the takedown attempt
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though Ngannou was able to easily fight off the takedown attempt. From there, the expected striking battle broke out,
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with Gane using his slick footwork to try to move around the Octagon and pick angles and Ngannou looking for his trademark bombs.
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The problem for Ngannou was actually finding Gane to land those shots. The grappling early appeared to drain Ngannou's gas tank
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he then was forced to chase Gane around the Octagon, with Gane casually moving, turning sideways and touching Ngannou with a variety of strikes
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In the third round, Ngannou finally had a moment, catching a Gane high kick and turning it into a massive body slam to end up on top in side control.
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"I knew that he was going to be a tough opponent, no doubt," Ngannou said after the fight. "I was surprised that he held on to the end of the fight but he was very good.