You correctly say that Lewis is one dimensional, but Ngannou is a one trick pony himself.
If you're saying primarily using boxing is one dimensional, fair enough; if you're saying how N'Gannou uses his hands and body is in anyway comparable to Lewis' oafish mauling, you're way off the mark. Francis has hands, and they're extremely dangerous and there's a reason he's connecting so frequently with clean, concussive shots time and again. The power or the over zealous way he tends to end fights gets more recognition than the fact he works set ups to be in those positions in the first place
He can’t wrestle (whereas Gane is pretty good on the ground),
He can't wrestle according to whom, or relative to what scale? He's never going to be in the class of Cain, Jones or Cormier as wrestler (obviously), but in relation to who else can't he wrestle?
It's a fool's errand trying to wrestle N'Gannou in the first place if you're not elite or have no means of setting up your shooting as Blaydes found out the second go round. I don't envisage Gane, whose best and smartest route to victory, is to be on the outside - as far away from the pocket as possible - initiating any kind of wrestling with N'Gannou unless desperate and wobbled. It's not only wrestling to think about, but also exit strategy, which, being in the pocket, is custom made for N'Gannou's hooks and uppercuts.
Francis got mad props for developing a bit of a take down defense against Stipe, as if that is some sort of incredible accomplishment worthy of special praise.
But it
is an incredible accomplishment worthy of special praise as it demonstrated a capacity to learn and develop counters in a short period of time relative to the calibre of opponent (the champion) from a position prior of looking lost at sea in the previous contest when faced with the same predicament.
Gane hasn't fought the same class of opponent yet and his resume is still thin to be spoken of like it's a formality he can just carry on as is as he goes up the levels. N'Gannou has fought what some would consider the best HW of all-time twice; the former champ (albeit a broken shadow of himself) and made a mess of the supposed wrestling gatekeeper the second go round. He's also left Rozenstruik as broken shell of a man, whom Gane didn't manage to take out in 15 minutes. You can go as far as to say if Dana wasn't being his usual, crooked self, Gane would have to take maybe two more fights to even get a title challenge.
At the end of the day he’s still a one trick pony, who can execute his only trick better than anyone else in the sport. His greatest vulnerability is an opponent who shares his speed and athleticism, but with an ability to submit, wrestle, leg kick and box - traits that Gane has in significant abundance.
I don't know what you mean by one trick pony, unless you are saying being dangerous with your hands from a multitude of ranges and angles is balled into one umbrella classification.
To the bolded, says who and why? What evidence is there to go along with that line of thinking? To the contrary, there's footage out there of N'Gannou facing off against men his size who he didn't seem to have any advantage over whatsoever where it's just straight, brutal mauling and heart carrying him and not any kind of physical superiority.
Regarding leg kicks. Gane will make that assessment in the octagon as to whether he can extend and retract safely without compromising himself and getting laid out or suddenly off balance or stuck in the pocket. Kicking out at Volkov, Rozenstruik, Dos Santos or Lewis doesn't come loaded with a quarter of the risk it does vs N'Gannou, so we'll see what transpires there.
With regards to boxing, that for me, is the most intriguing factor as Gane has it in him to outright beat N'Gannou to the punch - jabs in particular - but also runs the gauntlet each time and just one poor exchange on his side could end his night. It'll also be interesting to see what happens with N'Gannou if he's on the receiving end of a few stinging jabs. Further to that, if Gane gains the upper hand, pun accepted, he can open up lanes to kick or mix things up. Big ifs; I don't think it's at all a given he goes in there with the same calm and confidence, as controlling space and N'Gannou is a different stratosphere to the fighters he's faced to date.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19325233/usa_today_10014483.jpg)
