UFC 270 comes to you live from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on Saturday, January 22nd. The updated card will see the two-fight early prelims get started at 7:00 p.m. ET with the four-bout prelim card following it at 8:00 p.m. ET. The five-fight main card is scheduled for 10:00 p.m. ET and features the headliner of the event Francis Ngannou defending his heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane.
If you feel like participating in a FREE $10,000 Ngannou vs. Gane pool at DraftKings Sportsbook, we have some picks for you! Ngannou enters this title defense as the underdog with +125 odds while Gane enters as the favorite with -145 odds.
Who will win?
I’m taking Ngannou to defend his title even though he is the underdog. He has been on an absolute tear of late and nobody has been able to slow down his striking ability. Prior to winning the belt off of Stipe Miocic, Ngannou won four fights in a row, all by knockout, all in the first round, and all coming in less than one minute and 12 seconds in the first round.
Will the fight go the distance?
I think we are in line for a great fight. Despite Ngannou coming in on the heels of five consecutive knockouts, I don’t think that he is able to deliver that blow to Gane. The challenger, Gane held the interim heavyweight title that he won over Derrick Lewis in August of 2021 by a third-round knockout. Gane has never been knocked out or defeated, and while I think he takes the loss, I think it goes the distance and he avoids the knockout blow.
Who will land more significant strikes?
I am giving the nod here to Ciryl Gane. I think that Ngannou is going to hit harder, but I think that part of Gane’s ability that has him undefeated is his versatility on offense. He can be effective from a number of different positions, especially if this one goes to the ground. I think Gane is able to take advantage of the matchup and get more solid shots in, but I still think it will be in a losing effort.
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