“It’s harder to stay there”- Francis Ngannou’s head coach reveals why his first title defense against Ciryl Gane will be his hardest fight

“It’s harder to stay there”- Francis Ngannou’s head coach reveals why his first title defense against Ciryl Gane will be his hardest fight

Francis Ngannou with his new coach Eric Nicksick

Ahead of the super heavyweight title fight between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane, Ngannou’s coach believes that it will be the hardest match for the champion. 

At UFC 270 PPV main event, Gane will challenge Ngannou for the heavyweight title. Both the fighters are expected to put on a great show inside the octagon this Saturday. It’s a showdown between ferocious finishing power and unmatched technical abilities. Stylistically it’s a dream match-up and the fans are totally sold to it. The fight has the potential to be the greatest ever UFC heavyweight title bout of all time. The fighters, the narrative, the build-up of everything about the fight are spectacular. 

It will be the first-ever title defense of the champion and it is expected to be a tough one. Ngannou won the title by knocking out Stipe Miocic at UFC 260 last year. It will be the first time the French-Cameroonian will enter the octagon with something to lose. 

FS Video
YouTube video

Francis Ngannou’s coach on his first-ever title defense

Eric Nicksick(L), Francis Ngannou(R)
Eric Nicksick(L), Francis Ngannou(R)

Ngannou recently uploaded a video on his YouTube channel. In the video, the fighter shared clips from his training sessions and his coach’s insights about the upcoming big fight. Ngannou trains at the Xtreme Couture MMA under head coach, Eric Nicksick. 

In the video, Nicksick expressed that this fight is going to be the hardest fight of Ngannou’s career as it is the first time he is defending his title. “The hardest fight in your career especially when you are at the championship level is the first title defense,” said Nicksick.

According to Eric, as a fighter, It is tough to be a champion but it gets more challenging to remain in that position as everyone will be coming after you. It’s easy for fighters in that position to lose focus and get affected by all the success. “It’s hard to get there but it’s harder to stay there. People invest so much in getting there and once they get there they kind of let their guard down or lose track of what got them there. It’s like you’ve reached this apex and all of sudden you made it,” said Nicksick. 

Also Read: Here’s what Francis Ngannou said to Ciryl Gane at the UFC 270 weigh-ins