UFC 270: Why Aren't We Talking About The Actual Fight More?
There are tons of angles to cover with Saturday's heavyweight championship unification bout, but the actual fight itself doesn't seem to be getting that much attention
A couple months back, I asked, “Do fight fans even like fights any more?”
It was an idea I’d been kicking around for a while and a twist on something I’d heard Ryen Russillo talk about in regards to hoops a bunch of times: that fans have gravitated to the peripheral elements and niche areas more than the games themselves when it comes to enjoying the NBA. They prefer the offseason and the draft and the Woj Bombs and the talking heads more than a Wednesday night contest between the Pelicans and Pacers.
The games themselves and the development of the players and teams on the court have become far less interesting to a wide swath of fans, replaced by the machinations of how the league works, who wore what to the game or when they were bombing around town, and the general talking points that don’t really require you to watch any meaningful amount of basketball in order to participate.
I co-opted it for the UFC because the fit is seamless, as many fans of MMA have become more interested in the business dealings of the UFC, the social media presence of their favorite fighters, and various other elements, leaving the actual fighting trailing a reasonable distance behind.
Legitimate quality fights get dismissed on the regular and we’re seeing this idea proven to be true this week as there has been very little discussion about the heavyweight championship unification bout between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane from an actual fighting standpoint, even though the two ultra-talented competitors are set to hit the Octagon in four days.
There was talk about their history together and “The MSG Affair,” where Ngannou sauntered passed Gane, Nassourdine Imavov, and Fernand Lopez without acknowledging them early in the preamble to the fight, and it has been woven into the Countdown episode as well.
There has been tons of discussion about Ngannou’s relationship with the UFC, his contract status, and what the future may hold for the standout from Cameroon, with his decision to get half of his UFC 270 payment in Bitcoin jumping into the conversation queue in the last 24 hours as well.
But what I haven’t seen is pundits or prominent voices talking about how this is an absolutely fascinating stylistic matchup between the best two heavyweights in the sport right now, and how the outcome of this contest will shape the direction the division takes for the next several years.
When Gane was tabbed to face Derrick Lewis for the interim title last August, there was a feverish uproar because we all knew who the real champion was, we all wanted to see him compete, and getting anything else in place of that was unsatisfactory.
Now we’re getting Ngannou versus Gane — the guy everyone was screaming mad about not getting to see fight last summer against the undefeated interim champion — and it feels like the majority of people want to talk about the frosty relationship between Ngannou and the UFC, and the directions his career could go depending on whether he wins or loses on Saturday night.
All of those talking points are valid and appetizing and full of richness, and I don’t begrudge anyone for being curious to explore and discuss them; it’s just endlessly fascinating to me that we can somehow do all that while setting aside the actual fight itself, which is such a compelling contest when you break it down.
On paper, this is the best UFC heavyweight fight since Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos clashed for the first time on FOX — a meeting of two phenomenal talents clearly at the peak of their powers, both having looked dominant and dangerous over the last couple years, and each continuing to refine their skills and approaches each time we see them step into the Octagon.
Ngannou is power and speed and aggression, at least he was prior to showing more patience against Stipe Miocic in April. He was “The Anointed One” early in his career, a question mark after a one-sided loss and a perplexing follow-up effort, and fulfilled his destiny to stand atop the division last Spring with an incredibly impressive showing in his rematch with Miocic last spring, ending things less than a minute into the second round.
Gane is a tactician; a guy that will wait until he sees an opening he can exploit, but won’t force anything. He also should be talked about as one of the most prodigious talents to grace the UFC cage (and enter the sport as a whole, if we’re being honest), having gone from making his professional debut to claiming the interim title in 10 fights spread out over three years and six days, and he missed the majority of one of those years dealing with a collapsed lung that required surgery.
In some ways, they are tailor-made opponents for one another — Ngannou brandishing the kind of power that can make Gane pay for any minor slip up, any exchange where he stays in range for a fraction of a second too long; the Frenchman displaying the footwork, movement, and varied striking to work from the outside, picking at “The Predator” for five rounds if necessary, while still carrying the finishing skills to potentially put him away if he gets him hurt.
This could end quicker than that Velasquez-JDS debut on FOX or turn into an epic encounter stretched out over five rounds, filled with shifts in momentum, close calls, and debated scorecards, and yet the greater interest seems to be on Ngannou’s contract status and how the result of this fight will determine what he does next.
After being disgruntled about not getting to see him fight last August — because he was the guy everyone actually wanted to see fight Derrick Lewis — a number of those same people are now more fixated on where he’ll fight next, skipping over the part where he’s actually going to fight this weekend.
People fighting against the UFC is of greater interest to a growing number of people than people fighting in the UFC.
That’s okay — like what you like, do you — just know that I will be endlessly fascinated by the fact that an increasing number of fight fans don’t actually seem to like the fights themselves all that much any more, even when it’s the best fight that can be possibly made in the heavyweight division at the moment.