Jon Jones will face off against Ciryl Gane in UFC 285 on Saturday, March 4. The historic bout will decide the new champion in the heavyweight class in which Jones is marking his debut. The American MMA fighter will be entering the octagon after a three-year long gap. But given his reputation, some fans are already predicting his dominance in the high-voltage encounter.
Ahead of the high-octane clash, experts and fans have tried to predict how the bout might undergo as the two titans of the game lock horns with each other. Former Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou has weighed in on the predictions in an interview to MMA journalist 'The Schmo'. Ngannou has predicted Jones to technically knockout Gane if the American fighter performs as ruthlessly and aggressively as he is known for. At the same time, he has predicted that the match can go down to the wire if both fighters play defensively.
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"It depends which Jon Jones is going to be there. Is it going to be the Jon Jones that we know, or just a guy that's there [just] to be there... If Jon Jones shows up, this fight can be a TKO. I think he's gonna take [Gane] down, wrestle and some ground and pound. But it can go the distance if Jon Jones fights defensively. Because then both of them will be defensive fighters. Then it can go the distance," predicted Ngannou.
{{/usCountry}}"It depends which Jon Jones is going to be there. Is it going to be the Jon Jones that we know, or just a guy that's there [just] to be there... If Jon Jones shows up, this fight can be a TKO. I think he's gonna take [Gane] down, wrestle and some ground and pound. But it can go the distance if Jon Jones fights defensively. Because then both of them will be defensive fighters. Then it can go the distance," predicted Ngannou.
{{/usCountry}}Interestinly, Ngannou is on a break from UFC ever since his list of demands were denied by President Dana White. He left the UFC almost a year after surpassing Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 to defend his heavyweight title. But he has announced that he would mark his return to MMA after trying his hands in boxing.
"I will definitely go back into MMA but not before the boxing. I prefer to do the boxing first, [just do] one fight and then go back into MMA. There are MMA promotions that are reaching out to see how we can become partners mostly," said Ngannou in the interview to 'The Schmo'.