Francis Ngannou Faced Potentially ‘Irreversible’ Damage Fighting on Injured Knee at UFC 270

Francis Ngannou was well aware off the risks he faced defending his heavyweight title at UFC 270, and he went through with the fight anyway.

Following his unanimous decision win over Ciryl Gane at UFC 270, Ngannou revealed to media at the post-fight press conference that he competing with a torn MCL and other damage to his knee suffered prior to the event.

“It was pretty bad,” Ngannou said. “I have a grade 3 MCL (tear), I have damage on my ACL and damage on my MPFL. That was 25 days ago. I think [I’ll need surgery].”

It was a different style of fight for Ngannou at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on Saturday night, as he relied on takedowns and top position to wear down his former MMA Factory training partner over the second half of the bout. “The Predator” said he was warned by doctors not to compete, but he elected to take the risk – even on the last fight of his UFC contract.

“My team was by my side regardless of whatever I decided to do, that’s what they said,” Ngannou said. “But the doctor said he wouldn’t recommend me [to fight] because I could have irreversible damage if I got kicked on that knee. That’s why I couldn’t switch my stance.

“I could have withdrawn from this fight, but then get in another fight and get [injured] even worse. We are doing this sport, it’s very dangerous, you can hurt yourself all the time. So if you feel like there’s a chance you can do it, you have to do it. I believe in myself. I’ve been through a lot of stuff in my life. That must be a dumb decision, but I didn’t want to withdraw from this fight. I was very confident about my skills to win this fight.”

It became evident something might be wrong when Ngannou came to the Octagon wearing sleeves on both of his knees. That hindered his movement in the bout and likely, much of his trademark knockout power.

“I was very [unstable] trying to hold position, [I couldn’t] move too much,” Ngannou said. “I didn’t want to slip or something. Just the idea of slipping or getting kicked on that knee was so scary.

“Basically, I saw the doctor on Tuesday to clear me and he wasn’t very optimistic about it but I still decided to move on.”

Ngannou was well aware of the risks involved, and he was willing to do whatever it took to win in what could be his last Octagon appearance.

“I don’t care about how [my knee] feels,” Ngannou said. “I know what I was putting myself into and if I needed to leave that leg in the Octagon to get the win, I would have done it.”