The current UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou is arguably the scariest fighter in UFC history. Many UFC champions such as Stipe Miocic, JDS, Overeem, Cain Velasquez have fallen victim to Ngannou’s inhuman knockout power. But, if there is anyone in the heavyweight division who can go toe to toe with Francis Ngannou in terms of power then it has to be Derrick Lewis.
Derrick Lewis has the most number of knockouts in the history of the UFC heavyweight division. While comparing Ngannou’s power to Lewis’ it has to be considered that Lewis knocked Curtis Blaydes out cold in his last fight. But, Ngannou could only get a TKO victory over Blaydes. However, who will get his hands raised when these two UFC heavyweights face each other in a much-anticipated rematch?
Former UFC middleweight champion, Michael Bisping talked about this fight in his podcast “Believe you Me”. Bisping believes that Ngannou hits harder than Lewis but he can not afford to approach the fight against Lewis in a similar way he did against Rozenstruik.
Michael Bisping stated: “That’s where Ngannou has got to be careful. Cause when he went in against Rozenstruik like that it was an immense display of fierce power. But there was no technique there. In fact, it was a terrible technique. But still, he got the job done, I’m not criticizing. It was wild swings. But I wouldn’t do that against a guy like Lewis. Cause Lewis has got a good chin as well.”
Francis Ngannou vs Derrick Lewis 2 will be different from the first fight
Bisping also believes that Derrick Lewis winning the first fight against Francis Ngannou won’t play a huge factor in the rematch. Bisping explained:
“Because Ngannou got better. Because Ngannou was gunshy in the first fight. They were both gunshy. There had every right to be gunshy. That’s the thing about heavyweights. They have this one-punch knock-out power. And obviously, nobody has that like Lewis or Ngannou. But when they meet their match in terms of punching power they take it easy. You gotta man up. You gotta throw.”
We have seen significant changes in both Francis Ngannou and Derrick lewis since their first encounter. Ngannou has become more patient and technical while Lewis is in a much better physical shape and he has worked on his cardio and grappling. irrespective of who you pick to win the rematch it is safe to assume that this fight is not going to go 5 rounds.