UFC 270: Francis Ngannou beats Ciryl Gane via unanimous decision to retain heavyweight title
In the night's co-feature event, Brazil's Deiveson Figueiredo edged Tijuana's Brandon Moreno via a tight unanimous decision to regain the UFC flyweight title.
Sunday 23 January 2022 09:22, UK
Francis Ngannou retained his heavyweight title at UFC 270 on Saturday night as he rallied to clinch a unanimous decision against the previously unbeaten Ciryl Gane.
In an incredible turn of events, the UFC's king of the fast knockout saved his heavyweight championship with his grappling game.
Ngannou of Las Vegas by way of Cameroon dropped the first two rounds of his main event against Paris' Gane, before using takedowns and top control over the final three rounds to eke out a decision victory at Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
The judges' scores were 48-47, 48-47, and 49-46 to mark the first decision victory of Ngannou's career.
Gane (10-1), a kickboxer, used body kicks over the first two rounds to keep Ngannou from getting untracked. In the third, he used a huge slam to alter the fight, and followed it with a judo throw later in the round.
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Ngannou hit back with a takedown in the fourth, to which Gane replied with one of his own in the fifth until his opponent switched position and used top control over the rest of the round to seal the fight.
The evening's co-feature bout was the rare case where a trilogy fight was not the concluding matchup between a pair of fighters.
In a sensational bout, Deiveson Figueiredo of Brazil won a razor-thin affair with Tijuana's Brandon Moreno to regain the UFC flyweight title. The judges' scores were 48-47 across the board for a unanimous decision.
The bout was a 25-minute whirlwind, Moreno (19-6-2) landed more often, but Figueiredo (21-2-1) landed harder shots and scored more knockdowns, including one in a frantic and close final round that very well may have spelled the difference on the scorecards.
With the victory, the duo are now tied at 1-1-1. Their first bout at UFC 256 ended with Figueiredo retaining the championship via majority draw, before Moreno took the title via third-round submission at UFC 263.
With the win in the third fight, Figueiredo became the first two-time UFC flyweight champion with the win. He indicated after the fight he was willing to give Moreno a fourth-right rematch to settle things.
