In March this year, the "iron-blooded" Nagano violent KO Miocci won the UFC heavyweight (120 kg) championship gold belt, becoming the new "seven billion strongest men"! Although Nagano was crowned the new king, due to salary and contract problems, his relationship with the UFC was not harmonious, and he repeatedly called out to president Bai Dana.
Nagano
Moreover, the UFC does not seem to attach much importance to the new champion. Soon after Nagano won the gold belt, the UFC held a heavyweight temporary gold belt battle, and Nagaano's former disciple Gain won successfully, and was given the opportunity to challenge Nagano. On January 22, 2022, US time, Gayn will challenge Nagano and impact the official championship.
Nagano (left) and Gain (right)
Gayn, 31, from France, was previously a stand-up boxer who played in muay thai matches. In 2018, Gayn transformed into MMA, and after a wave of three consecutive wins, he came to the UFC ring. At present, Gayn has won seven consecutive wins in the UFC and remains unbeaten in his MMA career.
Gaine's most recent game was in August of this year, when he took out the famous "Black Beast" Lewis in the third leg of the TKO. Although Gaine did not show strong oppression in previous games, many people believe that his physical fitness is not inferior to Nagaano, and his technology is more delicate, so it is possible to beat Nagaano. In order to better cope, Nagano also began to strengthen his standing skills, and previously communicated with Van Hoewen, the strongest man in kickboxing.
Verhoeven (left) and Nagano (right)
In life, Nagano and Gayn are very familiar with each other, they have trained in the same club, often practicing in real combat. But then, Nagano ran away from the manager, and he parted ways with Gaine.
As the game approached, Nagano's conflict with the UFC seemed to have become more serious, and he had been dissatisfied with the salary package given to him by the UFC, and had previously said that he needed to borrow money to train and wanted to play professional boxing in the future. Bai Dana does not seem to care about this, he said bluntly in a recent interview that if Nagano does not want to be in the UFC, he can leave at any time! After the showdown against Gain, if Nagano can win successfully, maybe we can still see him in the UFC. However, if Nagano loses the title, he is also very likely to leave the UFC.