Curtis Blaydes questions the mindset of Francis Ngannou heading into their rematch in the headliner of UFC Beijing. Their first fight saw Ngannou win by second-round TKO in 2016.
Coming into this fight, Blaydes has won five straight since losing his UFC debut in April 2016. Despite the logic behind this, it makes sense for Ngannou to accept as he has already beaten Blaydes. On the flip side, some fight fans might think this is an odd fight to do again. The reason for that is due to the outcome of their first fight.
For Blaydes, this is an important fight for two reasons. First is the obvious one which is to get revenge on someone who has already beaten him. The second is to get closer to a title shot at the UFC heavyweight championship.
During a recent interview, the rising title contender believes that Francis Ngannou needs a desperate win which could impact his performance.
“I don’t know. I’ve never had a two-fight losing streak. But if I project, I’m thinking he’s probably feeling a bit of pressure right now,” Blaydes said on The MMA Hour. “He knows if he loses another one it doesn’t look good. That would be three back-to-back-to-back losses in one year.”
UFC Beijing (also known as UFC Fight Night 141) is set to take place on November 24, 2018 at Cadillac Arena in Beijing, China. Blaydes continued by stating that the former title contender is a fan favorite but has a bunch of pressure on him right now.
“He’s a fan favorite, but you can still get released after that. So I know he’s got a little bit of pressure on him and that might make him press. When guys start pressing, they make mistakes and it usually gets worse.”
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