Francis Ngannou may have been the less experienced fighter going into his UFC 218 showdown last night versus veteran Alistair Overeem, but that didn’t hinder the Cameroonian from dominating him in less than two minutes. Ngannou pulverized Overeem with a wicked counterpunch only one-and-a-half minutes into the first round. He revealed his motivation for such […]
Francis Ngannou may have been the less experienced fighter going into his UFC 218 showdown last night versus veteran Alistair Overeem, but that didn’t hinder the Cameroonian from dominating him in less than two minutes.
Ngannou pulverized Overeem with a wicked counterpunch only one-and-a-half minutes into the first round.
He revealed his motivation for such an emphatic performance during the post-fight press conference (transcribed by MMA Fighting):
“Sometimes you have to do something that you never do. I know that 80 percent, I’m gonna knock you out. The 20 percent was just like random.”
“Because he talk a little bit,” Ngannou said. “He talk a little bit and I really just wanted him to hear that I’m a little bit hungry about what he said, and I wanted to correct him.”
And while Overeem may have been the more experienced man in the cage that night, carrying over 60 MMA fights and years of professional kickboxing, Ngannou’s confidence in himself remains unparalleled in the heavyweight division.
“That is the past, man. We are talking about now. And now is me. I’m the present.”
How do you predict Ngannou would do against current champion Stipe Miocic? Is he really the future of the heavyweight division?
Tecia Torres has got a rubber match and championship gold on her mind. Last night (Dec. 2), Torres took on Michelle Waterson in the opening main card bout of UFC 218. After three rounds of action, Torres was awarded with the unanimous decision victory….
Tecia Torres has got a rubber match and championship gold on her mind. Last night (Dec. 2), Torres took on Michelle Waterson in the opening main card bout of UFC 218. After three rounds of action, Torres was awarded with the unanimous decision victory. It’s her third straight win. Speaking to the media after the […]
Another UFC event is in the books, and boy did it deliver. Legends faltered, new legacies were cemented, and contenders emerged looking strong enough to dethrone their divisions’ champion. With standout performances by Eddie Alvarez, Francis Ngannou, and Max Holloway, Saturday night in the Motor City proved to be a rousing success for the UFC, […]
Another UFC event is in the books, and boy did it deliver. Legends faltered, new legacies were cemented, and contenders emerged looking strong enough to dethrone their divisions’ champion.
With standout performances by Eddie Alvarez, Francis Ngannou, and Max Holloway, Saturday night in the Motor City proved to be a rousing success for the UFC, so let’s talk a look at what all went down:
Raj Mehta for USA TODAY Sports
6. Henry Cejudo still isn’t ready for Demetrious Johnson
Cejudo got obliterated by the flyweight champ when he was given his title shot at 2016’s UFC 197, and initially showed big improvements in the performances thereafter.
But Saturday night didn’t help his case for a second crack at Demetrious Johnson. Cejudo’s wrestling was on point against Sergio Pettis, yet he didn’t do anything with his position and never threatened to finish the fight, in spite of controlling where the fight went and when.
And that wrestling that worked so flawlessly against Pettis still won’t be nearly as effective against “Mighty Mouse,” who was only taken down once by the Olympian and quickly got back to his feet before ending the fight with a series of knees to Cejudo’s breadbasket.
A submission game for the wrestler such as an arm-triangle choke could do wonders for Cejudo, who needs more options to finish fights before being a serious threat to Johnson.
UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway picked up his second third-round TKO over Jose Aldo in one year when he stopped the 145-pound legend in the main event of last night’s (Sat., December 2, 2017) UFC 218 from the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. After the impressive victory, UFC president Dana White hinted at a rematch […]
UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway picked up his second third-round TKO over Jose Aldo in one year when he stopped the 145-pound legend in the main event of last night’s (Sat., December 2, 2017) UFC 218 from the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
After the impressive victory, UFC president Dana White hinted at a rematch between Holloway and former UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor, who beat a 21-year-old Holloway way back at 2013’s UFC Fight Night 26. Since then, he’s won an unheard-of 12 straight fights, becoming one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial arts in the process.
McGregor, on the other hand, won the lightweight title from Eddie Alvarez at 2016’s UFC 205, but was stripped of the 145-pound belt shortly thereafter and has not fought in MMA since after spending all of 2017 fighting Floyd Mayweather in boxing. Perhaps more importantly, he’s been involved in a series of concerning outside-the-cage incidents, jumping into the cage and pushing a referee at Bellator 187 before allegedly being involved in a bar fight with the Irish mob last weekend.
But that didn’t stop him from blasting Holloway after his win on Twitter earlier today as he posted a photo of “Blessed” after he defeated him:
McGregor has been tabbed for a potential title unification fight with interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson, but even White admitted the Irish megastar may never fight again, and also that the UFC is currently in negotiations with McGregor on a new contract, in which he reportedly wants his own promoter’s stake.
That makes McGregor vs. Holloway II an unlikely bout at this point in time, but it’s hard to argue with Holloway’s suggestion at the same time.
UFC President Dana White went on record going into UFC 218 that the bout between Alistair Overeem and Francis Ngannou would be a No. 1 contender fighter in the heavyweight division. As seen in the co-main event, Overeem was viciously knocked out by the rising contender in the first round of their heavyweight bout. He […]
UFC President Dana White went on record going into UFC 218 that the bout between Alistair Overeem and Francis Ngannou would be a No. 1 contender fighter in the heavyweight division.
As seen in the co-main event, Overeem was viciously knocked out by the rising contender in the first round of their heavyweight bout. He laid unconscious on the canvas for what felt to be a while after eating a left uppercut from Ngannou.
Now, Ngannou is slated to be the next title challenger for UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic. Ngannou has stated that not only does he want to become the UFC’s first African champion, but also dreams of headlining the company’s first fight card on the continent.
White has no doubt that the fast-rising heavyweight star has the ability to become a big name on a worldwide basis.
“We’ve had some trouble getting him a fight,” White acknowledged at the UFC 218 post-fight press conference in Detroit (transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting). “But once we keep this guy active and you see him doing this to all the big stars that you know, and yeah, I think this guy’s going to be a rock star globally.”
Ngannou is now 6-0 in UFC competition and has had the look of a potential star from the time he made his promotional debut.
“The guy, first of all, when you look at him, he looks like the heavyweight champion of the world,” White said. “I mean, he looks like the heavyweight champion of something. The guy is a monster.”
“He looked incredible tonight. Wow,” White said. “That’s as impressive a heavyweight knockout as you’ll ever see.”
Francis Ngannou’s thunderous, one-punch knockout of Alistair Overeem Saturday at UFC 218 was instantly the stuff of legend.
If you happen to be another fighter in the UFC’s heavyweight division?
Perhaps it was also the stuff of nightmares.
Ngannou didn…
Francis Ngannou’s thunderous, one-punch knockout of Alistair Overeem Saturday at UFC 218 was instantly the stuff of legend.
If you happen to be another fighter in the UFC’s heavyweight division?
Perhaps it was also the stuff of nightmares.
Ngannou didn’t just wrap-up the next shot at Stipe Miocic’s 265-pound title when he cold-cocked Overeem one minute and 42 seconds into the first round of their co-main event fight in Detroit. He put every other heavyweight on the planet on notice.
And a forthcoming matchup between Miocic and Ngannou for the UFC heavyweight title?
Well, that’s the sort of dream fight we seldom get in the fight company’s most troublesome weight class.
“Tell Stipe that I am coming,” Ngannou said after dispatching Overeem, via an official UFC release. “I am on my way to collect my belt. I thank him for keeping it for me, but that time is over. That is my belt.”
We have never seen anybody do Overeem quite like Ngannou did. Not that fast. Not that violently.
After extending his record inside the Octagon to 6-0—all of them first- or second-round stoppages—it’s clear we have never seen a heavyweight quite like Ngannou, either.
The 31-year-old’s blend of size, speed, strength and smarts make him a singular figure in the UFC landscape. So does his life story. In just four years as a professional fighter, he’s pulled himself out of poverty and homelessness to the brink of stardom.
The promotion is taking notice.
UFC President Dana White confirmed at the post-fight press conference that Ngannou was the new No. 1 contender for Miocic’s title. White said he would like to schedule that championship bout as quickly as possible, certainly before the middle of 2018. Perhaps as early as UFC 220 in Boston on Jan. 20.
At least on paper, a fight between Miocic and Ngannou shapes up as one of the greatest heavyweight title tiffs in UFC history. While jetting to five straight wins and taking the championship from Fabricio Werdum in May 2016, Miocic has been a stabilizing figure in a division historically plagued by unpredictability and unforeseen mishaps.
As arguably the two most athletic heavyweights on the roster, both in their primes and both possessing powerful, strike-first attitudes, a matchup between Ngannou and Miocic should be enough to get hardcore MMA fans salivating. It’s just the sort of pairing the heavyweight division should frequently muster but seldom does.
In spite of Ngannou’s impressive victory over Overeem, White stopped well short of prematurely anointing him the future champion.
“Stipe is fast, he’s agile, he’s a great athlete,” White said at his press conference Saturday. “Francis is bigger. He’s not as fast as Stipe, but he hits very hard. It’s a very fun matchup. Francis Ngannou is special. And Stipe? He’s very fast, and he has knockout power.”
If there is anything that could temper excitement for the bout, perhaps it’s the champion’s contract situation.
Miocic has been out of action since a victory over Junior dos Santos at UFC 211 in May. The typically mild-mannered fighter admitted some frustration with the structure of his existing UFC deal, which paid him less than his challengers in his two previous title defenses, according to MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani.
Helwani also noted, however, that talks between Miocic’s team and UFC were going well and that the champion hoped to fight again during the first quarter of 2018.
Now we know Ngannou will be waiting for him.
Each of the fast-rising contender’s four most recent fights has ended in under two minutes. The past two—knockouts of Overeem and former champion Andrei Arlovski—set him apart from the small group of heavyweights hoping to score the next title shot.
After a lengthy break between those two bouts, Ngannou also said he will be ready to get back to action as quickly as possible.
“I’m injury free, so I’m ready to go,” he said at the presser. “I’ve been out for a long time, like 10 months [before Overeem], and now I want to go [fight].”
He made it look easy against Overeem.
Like Arlovski before him, the 37-year-old striking specialist was supposed to be the stiffest test of Ngannou’s career. Though Overeem came in as the underdog, according to OddsShark, his nearly two decades of experience and 59 previous MMA fights gave him a massive advantage in experience.
Analysts thought if Overeem could avoid the early knockout and start to put a game plan together, his depth of skill might be too much for the comparative upstart Ngannou.
But avoiding Ngannou’s power shots is proving much easier said than done.
After firing off a quick opening attack to begin the fight, Overeem tried to surprise Ngannou with an early takedown. When that was stuffed, he tried to back Ngannou into the fence but immediately saw the position reversed.
After a referee restart and a short feeling-out process, Ngannou ended the bout with a single massive punch.
Following the opening salvo, Overeem appeared to want to pace himself and perhaps play a defensive game. The one time he ventured forward with an attack, Ngannou shut out his lights.
A looping left hand that missed its mark left Overeem in an awkward position. As he tried to straighten up, Ngannou blasted him with a scooping left-hand that knocked Overeem out cold.
It momentarily made for a scary scene, with Overeem prone on the canvas being attended to by ringside doctors. In a few minutes, however, Overeem was able to get up and congratulate Ngannou before the particulars of the stoppage were announced to the crowd.
He later tweeted he had suffered no damage:
For Ngannou, it was just the performance needed to assume control of the next UFC heavyweight title shot. Possessing both the skill and the look of a future star, he is taking shape as an important figure in a weight class that badly needs some exciting new blood.
If Miocic vs. Ngannou can come off with the speed everyone wants it to, it could be one of the biggest attractions of early 2018 for the UFC.
Francis Ngannou’s thunderous, one-punch knockout of Alistair Overeem Saturday at