Francis Ngannou retained his heavyweight title and stature as “Baddest Man on the Planet” by using, of all things, his wrestling in a performance that showcased his development as a fighter. Longtime fans will recall how badly Ngannou was out-wrestled in his first attempt at the heavyweight strap against Stipe Miocic back in 2018. However, “the Predator” has come a long way in that time and exposed a weakness in the takedown defense of the interim champion Ciryl Gane.

Early in Round 1, Gane shot a surprise takedown that Ngannou was able to defend, but in he process Gane was able to drive his foe up against the cage in the clinch. Ngannou however was able to land a nice knee before breaking the clinch. Gane showed an effective jab and front kick during the round. Gane also began to incorporate a lot of movement throughout the round. With the fight once more entering the clinch, Ngannou lands another nice knee. Gane was able to reverse position in the clinch late in the round. Gane landed a nice knee and Ngannou scored with an uppercut to the body as the fighters broke the clinch.

At the start of Round 2, Gane appears to be the fresher fighter. But Ngannou continued by patiently walking his opponent down as he had done in the first round. Gane scored early in the round with side kicks. Gane began to increase his pace and was able to clip Ngannou with a right hand.

Round 3 saw the tide of this fight turn significantly as Ngannou scored a massive slam takedown after he caught a high kick by Gane. Gane quickly tried to escape but Ngannou did well to maintain top control. Ngannou was able to land a couple of big shots from top position. But Gane did fairly well to move and eventually reversed position after Ngannou had briefly taken his back. After Gane is able to stand, Ngannou then scored a hip toss, with Gane landing hard. But Gane is able to get back to the feet. After a break from the clinch, Gane landed a spinning elbow on the break. Gane then landed another side kick to the body. With 30 seconds left in the round, Ngannou was able to score another takedown in a very solid round for the champion.

Round 4 started with a slow pace but Ngannou landed a big body shot and later a nice counter. Ngannou then secured another takedown, this time off a body lock. Ngannou eventually took back control and landed a couple hard shots. Ngannou later transitioned to top-half and while he didn’t do a ton of damage with strikes, he did well to control his foe. Late in the round, Gane worked his way to his back up against the cage from bottom position and Ngannou used the positioning to land a big knee to the chest. As the round winds down, Ngannou kept Gane smothered and landed a few shots in the process.

Round 5 saw Gane open with a sense of urgency as he clearly needed the final round if he had any hope of winning the fight. Gane was able to secure a single-leg takedown early in the round. From top-half Gane moved to guard after Ngannou attempted to stand after digging an underhook. But Gane twice tried a leg lock attempt that Ngannou defended well, with the champion ending up in top position. That seemed to be a critical error by Gane in attempting the leg locks after he had a dominant position. Ngannou was then able to control Gane for the remainder of the round, and while he landed few shots, he did well to maintain control. Ngannou defends his belt by unanimous decision via scores of 49-46, 48-47, 48-47.