Francis Ngannou may have gone through a slight body transformation ahead of his UFC heavyweight title clash against Cyril Gane.

After nine long months, UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is finally stepping inside the octagon to take on interim heavyweight champion Cyril Gane at UFC 270.

Ahead of Ngannou's highly-anticipated return, MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn posted a recent photo of “The Predator” on social media. In it, the returning champ looked a bit different as he appeared to have trimmed some of his massive muscles.

Ngannou's inactivity this year, has prompted UFC president Dana White to devise an interim heavyweight title bout between Cyril Gane and Derrick Lewis at UFC 265 in August.

Gane successfully stopped Lewis via TKO to claim the title and is now set to take on the real champion for a unification bout, something Ngannou was not happy about.

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“I don’t recognize [Gane’s] belt,” Ngannou previously pointed out via Sports Illustrated. “I’m the undisputed heavyweight champion. [Gane’s belt] isn’t legitimate, it is a replacement. The presence of the champion makes the interim title invalid. And I’m here.”

GAne, on other hand, is focused on assessing how Ngannou will come for him, insisting that the real champ “should be a smart fighter” when they finally meet inside the cage.

“I think Francis Ngannou did a lot these last years, and he probably improved and he’s more intelligent,” Gane said via BJPenn.com. “And that’s really great. He’s really well rounded now, and I think it’s going to be more like that. Because he knows I can manage the power. I think he knows I can manage the power. So maybe he should be a smart fighter this day [when we fight].”