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A year ago today, Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane fought in a heavyweight championship unification bout at UFC 270. The event took place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
There were a lot of questions surrounding the main event. 'The Predator' was competing in the final bout of his UFC contract and it was revealed that he was dealing with a knee injury.
Despite all the potential distractions outside of the fight itself, Ngannou earned a unanimous decision win against 'Bon Gamin'. He bounced back from losing the first and second rounds by securing takedowns and controlling the interim heavyweight champion on the ground.
Ngannou's first title defense extended his winning streak to six straight wins. Following the bout, he underwent knee surgery that kept him out of action for the remainder of the year.
Gane, on the other hand, rebounded from the loss and earned an impressive knockout win against Tai Tuivasa at the promotion's first-ever event in Paris, France. Both fighters earned post-fight bonuses for Fight of the Night and 'Bon Gamin' later earned an opportunity to fight Jon Jones for the vacant heavyweight championship.
Bellator expected to aggressively pursue Francis Ngannou
Francis Ngannou will surely attract plenty of interest now that he is no longer contractually obligated to or negotiating with the UFC.
Among the promotions that will be attempting to sign the former heavyweight champion is Bellator. While speaking to Insider, Showtime Sports President Stephen Espinoza mentioned that Bellator will do their best to sign 'The Predator' and will include Showtime Boxing in the deal as well.
He told Insider:
"If he wants to go into a big heavyweight match-up {boxing} right away, if he wants to do a long-term build, or bounce back and forth - the world is his oyster. There isn't an organization that wouldn't want to call him up and try to do business with him."
It will be interesting to see which promotion the former heavyweight champion decides to join. Signing him would be a massive one for the promotion that does as they would immediately attract more interest in their product.
