A massive title doubleheader is reportedly set to kick off the UFC's 2022 pay-per-view calendar in style.
According to the French publication La Sueur, UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou is set to defend his title against current interim champion Cyril Gane during the main event of UFC 270 on January 22.
In addition to the heavyweight title unification bout, Israel Adesanya will defend his UFC Middleweight Championship against Robert Whittaker on the rumored-to-be Las Vegas card.
Ngannou, 35, knocked out longtime champion Stipe Miocic back at UFC 260 this past March to claim UFC gold in his second attempt after coming up short against the aforementioned Miocic at UFC 220 in January 2018.
The undefeated Frenchman, Gane will be getting his first shot at undisputed UFC gold when he steps inside the cage against Ngannou. The 31-year-old has rattled off wins against former champion, Junior Dos Santos as well as top contenders Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Alexander Volkov and most recently defeating Derrick Lewis in an interim title bout at UFC 265 this past August.
The reported co-feature of the evening would see a rematch of UFC 243 between current champion Israel Adesanya and former champion Robert Whittaker.
Adesanya, 32, secured the UFC Middleweight Championship at UFC 243 where he knocked out Whittaker in the second-round. Adesanya's lone-career loss came when he jumped up to 205-pounds and was on the wrong side of a unanimous decision against Light Heavyweight Champion Jan Blachowicz back at UFC 259.
The aforementioned former 185-pound champion, Whittaker has laid claim to a three-fight winning streak since losing to Adesanya, securing victories over Darren Till, Jared Cannonier and Kelvin Gastelum.
Fightful will provide any and all updates to UFC 270 as they become available.
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