Heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes questions Francis Ngannou’s mindset ahead of their headliner fight in Beijing next week.
There was a lot of hype behind heavyweight Francis Ngannou, especially during his first few fights in the UFC. “The Predator” was scoring one vicious knockout after another, including a devastating one-punch finish of Alistair Overeem at UFC 218 in December of last year.
All of that dissipated in 2018, when Ngannou incurred his first loss in the Octagon against then-champion Stipe Miocic in January, then a very lackluster bout to Derrick Lewis six months later. This had led to a slew of criticisms thrown at him, including UFC president Dana White, who is not too sure if Ngannou would ever be the same again.
Ngannou’s coaches do recognize an “ego problem,” but opponent Curtis Blaydes is hoping that it would not be an issue for their upcoming headliner fight in Beijing, China.
“He’s probably in a hole right now,” Blaydes told media members in Denver on Saturday night (via MMAjunkie). “0-2 after being the hotshot? That’s got to be a dark, dark place. I want him to be his best. I don’t want any excuses out of his camp or the fans or the company. I want him at his best. I’ll beat him 10 out of 10 times.”
The two men had already fought in April 2016, with Ngannou winning via second-round doctor stoppage. But as Blaydes racked up one win after another, including a third-round TKO victory against Overeem in June, he felt that a rematch would only be inevitable.
“I wouldn’t say it kept me up at night, but I knew it would happen eventually,” Blaydes said of a rematch against Ngannou. “It was inevitable. I knew he’d be around, I’d be around.
“The UFC likes natural stories like this. We already have a natural storyline. It’s not fake. We had a fight, he won, but I didn’t get to finish it. So I do have a bit of redemption I want to get.”
UFC Beijing happens on November 24th. It will be co-headlined by another heavyweight matchup between Alistair Overeem and Sergei Pavlovich.