Francis Ngannou Issues Heartfelt Statement To Fans

Francis Ngannou issues a heartfelt message to all of his fans who have stuck by his side through his recent rough patch. The former title contender had a career-defining moment in his latest fight that got him back to his winning ways. The downfall all started at the UFC 220 PPV (pay-per-view) event at TD […]

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Francis Ngannou issues a heartfelt message to all of his fans who have stuck by his side through his recent rough patch. The former title contender had a career-defining moment in his latest fight that got him back to his winning ways.

The downfall all started at the UFC 220 PPV (pay-per-view) event at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Then-UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic successfully retained his title in the main event by scoring a dominant decision win over Ngannou.

In the fight, Ngannou was gassed after the first round and lost in a lopsided fashion. Following the fight, Ngannou made it known that this fight was a major learning experience for him. However, that wasn’t true as he had an odd experience in his next fight.

Moving along to the UFC 226 pay-per-view event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Derrick Lewis was able to pick up a unanimous decision win over the former title contender.

As seen in the headliner of UFC Beijing, Ngannou TKO’d Curtis Blaydes in 44 seconds in the first round of this heavyweight slugfest. The event went down Saturday (November 24, 2018) at Cadillac Arena in Beijing, China. UFC’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass, aired the entire show.

Francis Ngannou Shows His Emotions

Following the event, after taking some time to reflect, Ngannou took to Twitter to express his gratitude.

“I finally saw the light yesterday night at UFC Beijing by overcoming my darkness which dragged me deep to the bottom,” Ngannou wrote. “My fans, my family and all those people who trust and believe in me have got persecuted by haters and doubters. But they didn’t give up and they kept supporting me. That’s where I found strength to overcome all this.”

Regarding what his next for the former title contender, but Alistair Overeem did drop a teaser about what his next fight could be, which is a rematch between them.

“I wanna thank every single one of you, who once trusted me and who kept supporting me. Who stayed beside me and who didn’t stumble. I’m grateful to have any of you known. Unknown by my side and in my life since this is all my life. Thank you China and particularly Beijing for welcoming us. For all the love and energy you guys put in. It was an honor for me to perform for you guys such an amazing people and a great crowd. #TheRedemption.”

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Joe Rogan Dismisses Speculation Ngannou-Blaydes 2 Was Stopped Early

Joe Rogan dismisses any speculation that the rematch between Francis Ngannou and Curtis Blaydes was stopped early this past weekend.

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Joe Rogan dismisses any speculation or theory that the headliner of UFC Beijing between Francis Ngannou and Curtis Blaydes was stopped early. The longtime UFC color commentator talked about this topic on a recent episode of his podcast.

Ngannou TKO’d Blaydes in 44 seconds in the first round of this heavyweight slugfest in the main event of UFC Beijing. The event went down Saturday (November 24, 2018) at Cadillac Arena in Beijing, China. UFC’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass, aired the entire show. This marked a rematch between the two stars.

This was a rematch between the two stars. Coming into this fight, Blaydes had won four straight since losing his UFC debut to Ngannou in April 2016.

Following this fight, there were some people who thought that it was an early stoppage. However, Rogan disagrees with this theory and explained his take during a Fight Companion session.

“I don’t think it was an early stoppage,” Rogan said (H/T to MMANews). “It looks like it was almost an early stoppage, and then they let it go on, and then it was a decent stoppage. Didn’t it seem like at the beginning they were going to stop it [earlier]? The level of standup between them — I mean Curtis Blaydes is a good standup fighter but a really good wrestler. His wrestling stats are some of the best in the heavyweight division ever.”

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Francis Ngannou Credits Certain Mindset For UFC Beijing Victory

Francis Ngannou got his hand raised in his heavyweight slugfest at UFC Beijing and opened up on what has changed since his previous two straight losses.

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Francis Ngannou credits having a certain mindset for getting a victory in his pro-MMA career after having some recent struggles.

As seen in the headliner of UFC Beijing, Ngannou TKO’d Curtis Blaydes in 44 seconds in the first round of this heavyweight slugfest. The event went down Saturday (November 24, 2018) at Cadillac Arena in Beijing, China. UFC’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass, aired the entire show.

Following the fight, he spoke about what he credits to get this win at the post-fight press conference. He credits to having fun again to get back to his winning ways (via MMAJunkie.com):

“I came back tonight to have fun. My last fight wasn’t that good, just because I was too concerned about what’s going to happen. I put a lot of stuff in my mind. Then, after that, I took time and thought about why I started this sport.

The former title contender continued by stating that at the beginning of his MMA career, his dream was to become a world-class boxer. Now, he’s ready to go and continue his dominance in MMA. There are some people who think this win may have put himself back in title contention. Time will tell whether that actually happens or not.

“Because, at the beginning, my dream was to become a world-class boxer. And why I stepped into MMA, it was to have fun. I had to kind of remind myself what was the purpose, what was the goal – first of all, have fun. Then I came here tonight about having fun. It happened really great, which is good. I didn’t get any damage, so I’m ready to go.”

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Curtis Blaydes Reacts To UFC Beijing TKO Loss

Curtis Blaydes has given his first statement about losing to Francis Ngannou in today’s UFC Beijing headliner.

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Curtis Blaydes has responded to his devastating loss to someone who he knows quite well.

As seen in the headliner of UFC Beijing, Francis Ngannou TKO’d Blaydes in 44 seconds in the first round of this heavyweight slugfest. The fight went down today (November 24, 2018) at Cadillac Arena in Beijing, China. UFC’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass, aired the entire show.

This was a rematch between the two stars. Prior to this show, Blaydes had won four straight since losing his UFC debut to Ngannou in April 2016. He beat Daniel Omiela?czuk at UFC 213 by decision, Alexey Oleynik at UFC 217 by TKO, Mark Hunt by decision at UFC 221 and TKO’d Alistair Overeem at the UFC 225 pay-per-view event.

Coming into this fight, Blaydes thought that he should be next in line for the heavyweight title. Obviously, that won’t be happening in the near future.

Despite the fact that he initially protested the result, he made no excuses afterward. The prospect took to his official Twitter account after the fight where he offered the following statement:

“Took one on the chin tonight, I will be back with the same confidence #sometimesyourthenail #minorsetback #tooyoungtostopnow.”

In case you missed this fight, you can check out the highlights of this main event contest here.

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Curtis Blaydes Questions Francis Ngannou’s Mindset Going Into UFC Beijing

Curtis Blaydes has some question about the mental state of Francis Ngannou heading into this rematch.

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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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Francis Ngannou Seeks Meeting With Dana White For One Reason

Ngannou has yet to talk with White but plans to do so.

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Francis Ngannou seeks meeting with UFC President Dana White after the boss has given some negative comments about him and his performances lately.

In-House Fighting

Before getting into his next fight, he wants to get right with White but there’s one problem with his plan. He needs to find a way to get a meeting with him.

At the UFC 226 pay-per-view event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Derrick Lewis was able to pick up a unanimous decision win over the former title contender. This was not a thrilling fight at all. Instead, neither fighter threw a lot of shots in a stand-up fight that was being hyped as someone will be KO’d in the first round. That didn’t happen.

Thus, after the fight, White was not happy with Ngannou and blasted them as a result of it by stating that he thought the former title contender had some ego problems.

Francis Ngannou Seeks Meeting

Ngannou joined “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show” where he talked about his previous fight, the comments made by White, and his next booking under the UFC banner inside of the Octagon. He stated that he has yet to speak with White since losing to former UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic in January.

“No, I haven’t seen him, I haven’t talked with him,” Ngannou said (via MMA Mania). “Yes, I want to [clear the air] but I don’t know how I’m gonna handle that. Since my fight against Stipe, I haven’t seen Dana White. I never called him.

“We never spoke on the phone. I have to put that out of my head, people got disappointed with my performance. I have to put that away, that distraction, and focus on the fight.”

Curtis Blaydes and Ngannou are slated to fight at the upcoming UFC Beijing event (also known as UFC Fight Night 141) on November 25, 2018, at Cadillac Arena in Beijing, China.

The main card will air on FOX Sports 1 while the preliminary card will be split broadcasted on FOX Sports 1 and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.

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