The world was watching UFC 270, even Hollywood icon Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The incredible actor would catch Francis Ngannou in action, as he successfully defended his belt against Ciryl Gane. It’d be a hard fought first title defense for the heavyweight champion, but he ultimately came out on top.
Arnold Breaks It Down
Schwarzenegger, who is known for his roles in ‘Terminator’, ‘Predator’ and more would recap ‘The Predator’s’ performance at UFC 270.
“Ngannou is a total freak of nature,” Schwarzenegger wrote in his newsletter. “100% muscle, 6’4”, and he has the most powerful hands on the planet. Cyril Gane is a little bit smaller, but much faster and more technical. It’s the monster versus the technician, which is always a fun fight to watch.
“I knew Ngannou would have his hands full, but I didn’t think it would go this way – until the commentators talked about his knee wraps. I didn’t think twice about it, but afterwards, it was revealed that Francis had torn both his ACL and MCL before the fight. He even had a doctor in Los Angeles tell him not to fight, but he did it anyway. What a monster — that’s pushing yourself. The fight was slow to start and Francis looked exhausted. He was breathing with his mouth wide open and looked totally lost.”
Bouncing Back
‘Mr. Olympia’ thought all hope was lost for Ngannou as he was done two rounds. However, Ngannou would catch a second wind and use a totally different game plan.
Ngannou would rebound with ‘I’ll be back‘ vibes from Schwarzenegger’s ‘Terminator’.
“At this point, I thought there would be a new champion, and Francis was just another guy who won and lost the heavyweight belt. But once Francis realized his strength advantage and that he couldn’t set up his strikes as well as he used to, he went for massive takedowns. And when I say massive, I mean slamming the guy like a rag doll! Not your average MMA takedown. He did this for the last 3 rounds and dominated Cyril on the ground. I don’t even think I’ve seen Francis on the ground for that long– not to mention not seeing him knock someone out in the first round.
“Francis went against all odds, changed his game plan, and executed a new one, all within a fight. We can take this lesson into life as well. We always expect life to go a certain way and it usually doesn’t. As Mike Tyson said, ‘everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face’. Francis wasn’t expecting to tear his knee ligaments and he wasn’t expecting to tire so quickly. But he kept a cool head, and came up with a way to deal with the problems.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was proud of the Cameroonian’s amazing comeback. Consider the famous actor a fan of ‘the baddest man on the planet’.
“I am so happy to see Francis get the belt back”
