Francis Ngannou shows there are levels to his game, as he defends his UFC Heavyweight Title!

Last night, Francis 'The Predator' Ngannou defended his UFC Title for the first time, and he looked super impressive in doing so.

Francis Ngannou is quickly becoming a superstar thanks to his MANY insane highlight knockouts over some of the UFC's top competition. He's simply a terminator.

Last night, he faced a worthy foe and former training partner in Ciryl Gane. Gane was undefeated in MMA going into this fight, and was actually a betting favorite heading into this one! That surprised a lot of people as it seemed disrespectful to what Francis has accomplished in the UFC.

Nevertheless, Gane did prove to be a worthy Title Challenger in many ways, so this fight was a really tough test for Ngannou.

In this fight, Ngannou could not just walk right through Gane and rip his head off. Gane moves to well and seemed to be just as big as Ngannou. It seems that Ngannou was very aware of these challenges that Gane posed, and had come into the octagon prepared with a great gameplan.

Ciryl Gane fought Francis with good confidence and without an extreme fear of his power which might seem crazy to a lot of people. But Gane is such a good, mobile, and skilled athlete that he stayed safe with Francis while they were trading strikes.

This is where Ngannou's gameplan came in.

I've noticed Ngannou's game evolve more in recent fights, but only in small glimpses. Last night, Francis put all his new skills together in a way that must terrify other heavyweights.

While Gane seemed to be able to match Ngannou in the striking realm, Ngannou humbled Gane and reminded him that this is an MMA fight. Francis amazingly, body slammed Gane and took him down all night and wrestled and just jiu-jitsued this fool all the way to a decision victory.

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Ngannou really made a statement in this fight, I feel.

Not only did Ngannou shock me by having actually decent fundamentals and instincts on the ground, but he also shocked me by having like, a very good gas tank. He did not gas like crazy at all. Gane is known to out work dudes, and for the longest time it looked like Ngannou's gas tank was his weakness.

Finally, to go along with Ngannou's gas tank improving, Ngannou proved that he doesn't have to knock people out to get wins, he can grind out decisions if he needs to. He did just that last night as he defeated Gane by unanimous decision. The first decision victory of Ngannou's career!

So, in summary Ngannou proved he can do the following:

• Grapple pretty well
• Actually have good cardio
• Grind out a decision if he needs to

Francis's patience and IQ in the cage is just becoming better and better. I've got to imagine this new, more well rounded Francis comes from his time working with UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman who is an extremely well-rounded fighter.

Who knows what is really next for Francis, he seems unhappy with the UFC, so his days with the promotion could be numbered.

There has been some speculation that Francis could hop into boxing and box Tyson Fury. But that would probably end badly for Francis. But hey, anything is possible. Francis would get rich, that is for sure.

But man, I was really impressed with Francis last night. It's clear he's been working hard, you gotta respect it. I get the impression he is more of a professional now than when he first arrived in the UFC. He seems focused and just more mature.

What did you think of Francis Ngannou's performance last night?