Francis Ngannou had a lot stacked against him at UFC 270. The heavyweight champion entered his Jan. 22 title defense with a severely compromised right knee. His challenger, Ciryl Gane, was coached by Ngannou’s own first MMA coach, from whom Ngannou was estranged. And the champ, competing in the final fight on his UFC contract, was locked in bitter negotiations with the promotion.
When Ngannou lost the first two rounds, showing little of the fearsome punching power for which he’s known, it was starting to look like there was too much going against him and there might be a dethroning in progress.
But Ngannou dug deep, showing off a wrestling and jiu-jitsu prowess no one had ever seen, while he was knocking out everyone stood in front of him. In an all-heart performance, Ngannou pulled out a decision victory that kept him at the top of the heavyweight heap as the baddest man on the planet.
The comeback also propelled Ngannou up a spot into the top three in the latest ESPN pound-for-pound men’s rankings.
There’s some other movement in the men’s and women’s top-10s as well. Check out the latest.
Note: Results are current; rankings as of Jan. 26.
Men’s pound-for-pound rankings
1. Kamaru Usman
UFC welterweight champion
Record: 20-1
Last: W (UD) Colby Covington, Nov. 6, 2021
Next: TBD
2. Israel Adesanya 
UFC middleweight champion
Record: 21-1
Last: W (UD) Marvin Vettori, June 12, 2021
Next: Feb. 12 vs. Robert Whittaker
3. Francis Ngannou 
UFC heavyweight champion
Previous ranking: Tied for 4
Record: 17-3
Last: W (UD) Ciryl Gane, Jan. 22, 2022
Next: TBD
4. Alexander Volkanovski 
UFC featherweight champion
Previous ranking: 3
Record: 23-1
Last: W (UD) Brian Ortega, Sept. 25, 2021
Next: TBD
5. Charles Oliveira
UFC lightweight champion
Previous ranking: Tied for 4
Record: 32-8, 1 NC
Last: W (Sub3) Dustin Poirier, Dec. 11, 2021
Next: TBD
6. Petr Yan
UFC bantamweight interim champion
Record: 16-2
Last: W (UD) Cory Sandhagen, Oct. 30, 2021
Next: March 5 vs. Aljamain Sterling
7. Max…
Source : espn
