Eric Nicksick is expecting Ciryl Gane to give his student Francis Ngannou a difficult challenge when they unify the UFC heavyweight title.

Nicksick, the head coach at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas and Ngannou’s (16-3 MMA, 11-2 UFC) lead cornerman, isn’t expecting a cakewalk when the time comes for a fight with newly minted interim titleholder Gane (10-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC), who beat Derrick Lewis in the UFC 265 main event this past Saturday.

To little surprise, Nicksick was watching closely as Gane dismantled Lewis en route to a third-round TKO at the Toyota Center in Houston. After witnessing the lopsided affair, Nicksick said he can’t help but take Gane very seriously.

“I was very impressed with him to be quite honest with you,” Nicksick told MMA Junkie Radio on Monday. “I think he’s very efficient. That’s the word that comes to mind, is efficient. He’s not very hittable.”

There was a lot of drama leading up to UFC 265 that involved Ngannou. The promotion originally wanted him to defend his belt against Lewis at the event, but when his timeline didn’t match up, it moved on and booked an interim title fight.

Ngannou repeatedly expressed his disappointment about how the situation played out, and felt the UFC brass were trying to devalue his belt by adding an interim belt into the mix less than five months after he knocked out Stipe Miocic to become champion. The situation played out as it did, though, and it seems Ngannou has turned the page and honed in a bout with his former training partner Gane.

Despite all the hoopla, Nicksick said Ngannou has been in the gym daily and training hard. He said “The Predator” is focused, and everyone involved knows it’s not going to be easy to put that first blemish on Gane’s record.

“I wouldn’t say he feels disrespected – I don’t want to put words in another man’s mouth – but there’s definitely an edginess about him like, ‘I’m going to prove these guys wrong,’” Nicksick said. “I don’t know what there is to prove or what he has to do. He’s the heavyweight champion of the world. Gane looked great this past weekend. I know we have our hands full, but in my mind that title is always going to run through us, and it’s ours to defend.”

Although there has been no date or location officially attached to the Ngannou vs. Gane fight, Nicksick said he’s already doing mental preparation for Ngannou’s first heavyweight title defense. Gane has a unique style that isn’t easy to duplicate, but Nicksick is one of the best coaches in the game, and he’s confident in his ability to have his fighter well prepared for when the time comes to step in the octagon.

“I’ve already got guys in mind, for sure.” Nicksick said. “I want to bring in some guys to try to mimic the style. But at the heavyweight division, it’s really about bodies. The better type you can find to mimic his style – it’s going to be difficult – it’s going to be hard to find a style like. At this stage in your career, don’t step over dollars to pick up dimes. Do everything to get the title, but also maintain the title. Not cutting corners on camps, especially when it comes to training partners, is very imperative.”

To hear more from Nicksick, check out the full interview with MMA Junkie Radio below: