Hats off! Champion Ngannou defended his title with a severe knee injury. Why didn’t he pull out of the fight?

Francis Ngannou showed all the doubters that he is rightfully the heavyweight champion. He defended his belt in a tough fight with Ciryl Gano by winning on points. At the same time, the African fighter didn’t want to enter the fight too much because of his injury. With what injury was he able to defend his title?

The expected heavyweight title fight was won by defending champion Francis Ngannou. The bookmakers and quite a few bettors favored his opponent. Ciryl Gane was supposed to be the one to usher in a new era, but it didn’t happen.

Ngannou won on points thanks to his great ground work. He had more takedowns in the fight than he had in his entire UFC career. In short, at 35 years of age, progressions can still be made and improvements can still be made.

In the standup, Ngannou didn’t get the better of his opponent, Gane moved well, was light on his feet and didn’t allow his opponent to even get close.

The reigning champion’s stance, however, was probably a bit weak due to the injury he admitted to after the win. The Cameroon native even considered pulling out of the match.

Gane, according to Ngannou, was a tough opponent, but he was nevertheless surprised that he lasted until the end. The coach advised him to be patient throughout the match.

And what did he say about his injury? “I wanted to pull out of the fight but I couldn’t do it. It was a chance to do something great and remind everyone that I’m a champion. I hurt my knee, tore my MCL completely and hurt my ACL,” he revealed in a post-fight interview.

The MCL is the medial collateral ligament, and when a serious tear occurs, it is accompanied by an injury to the anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL. Treatment can take months. In short, hats off to Ngannou for being able to defend his title against a tough opponent with such an injury.

Source: UFC