Francis Ngannou vows to knock out Ciryl Gane in UFC 270 title bout - having done so before

UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou says he has already knocked out upcoming opponent Ciryl Gane – albeit accidentally – and predicts he will do the same inside two rounds of their title clash at UFC 270.

The former training partners go head-to-head in the main bout in Anaheim, California early on Sunday, one of two championship clashes in the promotion’s opening pay-per-view of 2022.

Ngannou, 16-3 in professional MMA, knows the undefeated interim belt-holder well having trained together in the past at MMA Factory in Paris - although he suggests not as often as reported.

However, footage emerged this month from that time of Gane seemingly getting the best of Ngannou during a sparring session, something that appears to have irked the Cameroon star.

Speaking to media late on Wednesday, Ngannou said: “It wasn’t sparring footage. It was a clip of the sparring footage. Because the footage doesn’t look that good.”

Competing for the first time since defeating Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight crown in March, Ngannou told the UFC’s “Countdown” show released last week that he in fact knocked out Gane in one of their training sessions.

Asked on Wednesday to explain, he said: “Yes, I knocked him out. A high kick, left high kick. That knockout wasn’t a voluntary knockout. It was in sparring. It was an accident. I didn’t intend to knock him out. I didn’t go there to knock him out.

“Personally, it’s not something that I feel proud of. I don’t walk around and feel all tough because I knocked my sparring partner out or down or whatever. Usually stuff like that happens in training, but it’s always an accident because we’re committed to taking care of our partner.”

Francis Ngannou during a press conference for UFC 270. AFP

Now