Report - Francis Ngannou vs. Ciryl Gane Targeted For UFC 270 On January 22nd.

Mandatory Credit: Chris Unger - Zuffa LLC & Josh Hedges - Zuffa LLC

The UFC heavyweight unification bout between Francis 'The Predator' Ngannou and interim divisional champion, Ciryl 'Bon Gamin' Gane is reportedly targeted to feature at UFC 270 on January 22. At the time of publication, a venue or location for the card has yet to be determined by the organization.

Cameroon native, Ngannou clinched the undisputed UFC heavyweight championship back in March of this year at UFC 260 -- stopping two-time opponent and champion, Stipe Miocic with a massive second round knockout.

Ngannou was then targeted to make his first title defense against former opponent, Derrick Lewis, until scheduling conflicts prevented him from headlining an August date.

As a result, the promotion elected to introduce an interim title to the division, with Lewis headlining UFC 264 in Houston, Texas against Gane -- where he suffered an eventual one-sided third round ground strikes loss to the Frenchman. With the win, Gane moved to 10-0 professionally. French outlet, La Sueur were first to report the title unification bout between the two.

Ngannou, recognised as arguably the most formidable knockout threat in mixed martial arts today, has rebounded from his firs title challenge loss to Miocic and a subsequent decision defeat to Lewis, to embark on a run of five straight knockout victories.

The Xtreme Couture trainee, a brief former training partner of Gane at Factory MMA under the renowned, Fernand Lopez, rebounded with a second career victory over Curtis Blaydes at UFC Fight Night Beijing in November 2018.

The 35-year-old has since dispatched former division kingpins, Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos, before stopping Jairzinho Rozenstruik in just 20-seconds before March's title win against Miocic. 

Undefeated dynamic force, Gane has exploded onto the UFC scene since his promotional bow just over two years ago. 

Hotly-tipped to eventually lift Octagon gold, the 31-year-old has so far lodged seven straight victories since his transition to the promotion in the summer of 2019.

Debuting with a submission win over Raphael Pessoa, Gane has since bested Don'Tale Mayes, Tanner Boser, common-foes, dos Santos and Rozenstruik, as well as Russian kickboxer, Alexander Volkov prior to his August interim coronation against Lewis.