UFC 270: Francis Ngannou beats Ciryl Gane to retain heavyweight title and unify division

By Ben Morse, CNN

Updated 1208 GMT (2008 HKT) January 23, 2022

Francis Ngannou looks on prior to the heavyweight title fight against Ciryl Gane.

(CNN)Francis Ngannou beat Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 on Saturday night to retain his heavyweight title and unify the division.

Hampered by knee injuries — which he revealed after the fight — Ngannou, known for being one of the sport's biggest punchers, relied on his wrestling and ground game against Gane. And despite appearing down after the first two rounds, the 35-year-old finished the evening winning by a unanimous decision at Honda Center in Anaheim. In beating Gane, the interim UFC heavyweight champion, Ngannou cements his position as one of the most dangerous fighters in the sport. And the impressive victory comes despite suffering substantial injuries to his knees three weeks ago. The Cameroonian fighter said afterwards he had torn his right MCL and damaged his ACL during training. Read MoreNgannou grapples on the ground with Gane. He had multiple doctors recommend he withdraw from the fight, but he chose not to because he wanted to «remind people I'm the champ.»«It's been an incredible journey,» Ngannou said. «It's been a very tough training camp. A very tough 10 months.»Ngannou's record now goes to 17-3, while the defeat was the first of Gane's MMA career, slipping to 10-1. The two fighters have a long history together — they used to be sparring partners back in Paris and Gane's head coach, Fernand Lopez, was Ngannou's former mentor.Talk of Ngannou's future UFC dominated the build up to the fight though, as he believes he's not paid well enough by Dana White and the UFC. And afterwards, he didn't rule out a future elsewhere. «Boxing is always in the back of my pocket,»