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PHOENIX, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 17: Francis Ngannou of Cameroon celebrates his KO victory over Cain Velasquez in their heavyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at Talking Stick Resort Arena on February 17, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

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PHOENIX, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 17: Francis Ngannou of Cameroon celebrates his KO victory over Cain Velasquez in their heavyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at Talking Stick Resort Arena on February 17, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
UFC middleweight Kevin Holland spoke to Helen Yee and talked about the first pay-per-view that is set to kickstart 2021. Francis Ngannou is keen to record his first title defense against former teammate and friend, Ciryl Gane. The aforementioned scrap is a title unification bout after ‘Bon Gamin’ picked up the interim title back at UFC 265 in Houston, Texas.
Kevin Holland commented on the match-up and revealed that he’s looking forward to seeing the two behemoths clash. Not to mention, he has trained with Ngannou’s coach and also teased a ‘funny interview’ interaction with ‘The Predator’ that fans would definitely love to see.

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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – DECEMBER 12: Kevin Holland celebrates his KO victory over Jacare Souza of Brazil in their middleweight bout during the UFC 256 event at UFC APEX on December 12, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
“I train with Eric [Nicksick] quite a bit so I’m not going to go against the grain. I met Francis [Ngannou] quite a few times, he seemed like a pretty cool guy. We actually had a funny little interview thing we did not too long ago. So yeah, it’d be nice to see Francis put that knockout power there, get the job done.”
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Holland also talked about a fight that he was keen to see in the future once UFC 270 wraps up. ‘The Trailblazer’ wants to watch Ngannou go head-to-head against the current knockout king of the UFC, Derrick Lewis. Both men fought at UFC 226 in what turned out to be a contest that disappointed both fans and the UFC brass.
My personally, I would like to sit frontside for a Derrick Lewis- Francis rematch. I would like to see Francis get the job done and then see that fight.”
“We did a little interview, hopefully, it goes on his YouTube. It was pretty cool, it was pretty cool. You guys have to watch it on his YouTube, that’s for him to put out there, not me.”
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Francis Ngannou vs Ciryl Gane: The storyline
The history that both heavyweight fighters share is perhaps one of the most compelling story arcs to a title fight in recent memory. Moreover, Ngannou’s former coach is now spearheading the operation for Ciryl Gane to help him become the undisputed champion.
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The fight is also a good test for Francis Ngannou to see how his devastating power matches up with a skilled technician. Gane is known to be as precise as they come and some fans have lauded this fight as the best heavyweight match-up of all time.
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