Unpredictability is part of the attraction when it comes to mixed martial arts and that was the best way to describe how the UFC 270 main event played out on Saturday night.
Billed as a showdown between former training partners — not teammates — as Francis Ngannou sought to defend his heavyweight title for the first (and possibly last) time against former training partner in Ciryl Gane, who came up under the same head coach who taught both of them how to fight.
What was expected was a chess match between two elite strikers with Ngannou known for his devastating one-punch knockout power and Gane with a methodical style where he will pick his opponents part before finally going in for the kill.
The fight went exactly as expected. Ngannou landed four takedowns and Gane was dominated with heavy wrestling on the floor. Ngannou went into the fight with a serious knee injury — the kind of injury that had his doctors telling him do not compete — but he still did it anyways.
Ngannou retained his title. This was also apparent to UFC President Dana White, as White disappeared from the arena after the end of the main event.
Deiveson Figueiredo, the UFC’s first two-time flyweight champion, performed a highly dynamic fight to erase the negative memories of the last time he faced Brandon Moreno. Figueiredo got dominated and then finished by Moreno in their rematch but this time around the Brazilian showed patience and power with a strategy orchestrated by former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo, who helped lead him back to the promise land.
There’s plenty to dissect from the card on Saturday night so let’s talk about what passed and what failed at the first UFC pay-per-view in 2022.
This is the Making of the Grade UFC 270: Ngannou against Gane.
PASSES
Wrestling with Shadows
Ever since Francis Ngannou lost a lopsided decision to Stipe Miocic in his first UFC title shot, the Cameroon native has been trying to fix the problems that led to that particular defeat. Perhaps the biggest hole in his game that was exposed that night was lackluster wrestling that allowed Miocic to essentially take him down at will and Ngannou couldn’t do much of anything to get back up again.
Fast forward UFC where Ngannou was fighting with a badly injured knee. He couldn’t even plant his feet to throw power punches, much less move around the cage in the speed and footwork that Miocic had nightmares about last March. After losing the first two rounds, Ngannou landed a Herculean slam on Gane that brought the French heavyweight crashing down to the canvas with a mighty thud and with that the momentum in the fight was completely altered.
After realizing that Gane was basically a mirror image of himself from four years ago — a supremely talented heavyweight fighter without a lick of wrestling in his arsenal — Ngannou took advantage of that to storm back and get a unanimous decision victory.
Ngannou, who had been to the decision only three times during his career, lost all three. But he proved that even against an extremely talented opponent, there was still a way for him to win. Was it a highlight reel victory he’ll be touting for years to come? Probably not but the fact that Ngannou could show vast improvements in an area that cost him in a title fight a few years ago while also gutting through a bad injury is the definition of a true champion.
And let’s not forget, Ngannou performed all this in the shadow of the last fight under his UFC contract. This was almost more important than the main event. In fact…
Class Act
Ngannou deserves all praise for the manner and attitude he displayed in one of the most important fights his career against an opponent that oddsmakers and punters decided was actually the favorite to win UFC 270..
Despite the fact that his UFC contract was ending, and despite a conflict with Dana White (more later), Ngannou treated himself well before and after the fight.
Ngannou was forced to confront a few French journalists who misunderstood his past interviews and also accused him of leaving the country that he had called home for many years. But even this moment, “The Predator”, came out victorious.
Joe Rogan asked Ngannou immediately after the fight whether he would forgo his UFC career in order to pursue a match against Tyson Fury. Ngannou declined the offer but said instead that we will have to watch and wait.
At the UFC 270 post-fight press conference, Ngannou could have burned every bridge left with the promotion when asked about Dana White not putting the belt around his waist or skipping out on speaking to reporters after the event was over but in both cases he smiled, laughed quietly and looked just as befuddled by that decision as everybody else in the room.
The reality is Ngannou has been everything the UFC could want in a heavyweight champion — a terrifying force of nature in the cage, a charming guy outside the sport with a truly inspirational journey to get there that will undoubtedly become a major motion picture one day.
Yes, he’s been at odds with the UFC over his contract but judging by the reaction to the salaries released for the card on Saturday night, he’s probably not going to be the only one with those same issues moving forward.
Behind the scenes maybe Ngannou and his representatives at CAA are asking for the moon — but if all they want is a bigger piece of the pie and a chance to pursue a boxing match that could net Ngannou a $30 million payday, then maybe he’s just trying to get the same kind of concessions that Conor McGregor received when he set up a fight against Floyd Mayweather back in 2017.
Either way, Ngannou did everything right before and after his latest fight at UFC 270 and he should be commended for that.
Fourth Time’s the Charm
Like it or not, parity in sports matters and that played at least some small part in why nobody really seemed to care all that much when Demetrious Johnson was reigning as the UFC flyweight champion. Now that’s definitely not a knock on Johnson — if anything it’s a compliment to the way he ran roughshod over the entire 125-pound division while racking up 11 consecutive title defenses and losing only a handful of rounds while dominating a weight class for the better part of six years.
Johnson was so far ahead of his opponents that many people started to tune him out. Although it was entertaining to see Johnson pound his opponents, once it became clear that it was almost certain that Johnson would win the fight and win easily, all the excitement and drama surrounding the fights disappeared.
After Johnson lost his title, and left UFC, flyweight was initially in limbo. The division was then revived by the competition between Deiveson Figueroedo and Brandon Moreno.
Figueiredo & Moreno brought out the best in each other over three fights. Fans also enjoyed an amazing series of battles which resulted both in draws and one wins for the fighters. Figueiredo defeated seemingly impossible odds at UFC 270, to win his title back in front of an hostile Anaheim crowd. This was the Mexican-born first champion in UFC history.
Figueiredo won the fight and was booed by almost everyone in the arena. However, this only contributed to an ongoing feud with Moreno. Figueiredo actually suggested a fourth bout against Moreno, except that they would be fighting in Mexico. This would give “The Assassin Baby”, the home-field advantage.
As much as that bit of matchmaking might suck for Askar Askarov and Kai Kara-France, who are about to battle later this year in what has to be considered a No. 1 contender’s fight, the UFC would be foolish not to capitalize on booking Figueiredo vs. Moreno 4 while the 125-pound division is getting more attention than ever before.
This is what flyweights need for many years — an engaging storyline between two outstanding athletes, and a passionate fanbase eager to see them again. We hope the UFC sees the potential of this fight and Figueiredo & Moreno will meet again for the final time.
FAIL
Institutional Failure
It’s difficult to disagree with Andy Foster, the executive director of the California State Athletic Commission, as they are the best standard for combating sports regulation in America. Foster and the CSAC tried to reduce dangerous and disastrous weight cuts, while still being transparent and an important part of the sport. This is sadly a rare quality these days.
UFC 270’s salaries were made public by the CSAC on Saturday, giving journalists, fighters, and fans a glimpse of the scale of pay at the biggest mixed martial arts promotion.
It’s easy to start a conversation when seeing some of these salaries — for instance Figueiredo making only $150,000 for his title fight win over Moreno or Contender Series winner Jack Della Maddalena making $20,000 for his first-round knockout while his base pay was only $10,000, which was $2,000 less than his opponent Pete Rodriguez after he accepted the fight on short notice.
This means that a Contender Series fighter earned less than someone the UFC signed one week earlier to fight him.
While the conversation over fighter pay will continue, it’s getting harder and harder to actually investigate what the athletes are making when cowardly commissions across the U.S. suddenly decided to stop revealing the salaries handed out by promoters. Nevada is on the top of that list after the commission there opted to stop disclosing salaries for no apparent reason other than keeping just about everybody in the dark when it comes to what combatants are being paid there.
It is important to note that the disclosed salaries do not give an accurate picture of how athletes make their money. This is because discretionary bonus payments and pay-per view are clearly excluded. However, fighters and representatives remain in the dark about the negotiations of contracts that are based on information no longer publicly available.
This is unlike any other major sport in America, where the salaries of the NFL, NBA, and MLB are all disclosed. It makes it much easier for agents when they try to negotiate a contract for their athletes. To understand market conditions and to negotiate a better deal for Patrick Mahomes, Patrick’s agent will be able to see the Green Bay Packers paying Aaron Rodgers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers giving Tom Brady.
Thanks to commissions like Nevada and others suddenly keeping that information from the public, the UFC and other promoters are able to keep salaries in house without anybody being the wiser about what’s actually being paid to the athletes. It’s good to know at least one commission — namely California — still has the guts to do what’s right.
EPIC FAIL
Petty, Tom Petty
Dana White needs to explain his actions after running out of Anaheim’s Honda Center on Saturday night, without placing Francis Ngannou the heavyweight title at his waist. He also failed to appear at UFC 270 Post-Fight Press Conference. Full disclosure: Neither White nor UFC has addressed White’s absence. If this were a family emergency, the following statement will be null and void.
In the unlikely event that White had to withdraw from the UFC arena before the bell rang, it appears that White would prefer to celebrate Ngannou as a heavyweight champion. Ngannou has publicly criticized the UFC for a poor contract and said that he would leave the UFC with his belt around his waist, if they don’t give him good terms.
It’s impossible not to read between the lines when White hands Deiveson Figueiredo his belt and then sends UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard into the cage to give Ngannou his heavyweight title. It’s impossible to overlook the fact White did not make a post-fight appearance at the press conference, or for an interview at ESPN’s partner broadcasting UFC.
That was White’s way of saying a million words without ever opening his mouth.
White took aim at Ngannou’s representatives at CAA, a rival to Endeavor’s UFC owners. He essentially accused them of giving poor advice to Ngannou. It’s not clear what bad advice White believes has been doled out but Ngannou has been plenty loud and clear on his own that he wants more freedom than the restrictive UFC contract allows while also looking to make better pay among his peers.
Judging from White’s conduct at UFC 270,, it seems like he isn’t ready to accommodate Ngannou. It would appear that the promotion could be headed for an ugly split against the champion in heavyweight since Brock Lesnar’s return to pro wrestling.
More than anything, White’s decision to abandon Ngannou in the cage, and then not bother to address his win afterwards, speaks volumes about what would seem like a rather petty attitude when it comes to dealing with this entire ordeal.
