Francis Ngannou is one of the most exciting fighters UFC has ever seen. Every time he steps into the octagon the fans can expect to see a brutal knockout. And he has delivered almost every single time in his MMA career. To be accurate, the only three times, Ngannou has not finished his opponents are the only three times he suffered defeat in his MMA career.
Even in defeat, there is always a chance that Ngannou will shut the lights out of his opponent with one punch. But, when Ngannou does not get going then the fight can be pretty uneventful.
After his first UFC loss to Stipe Miocic, Francis Ngannou took on Derrick Lewis, who has the highest number of KOs in the UFC heavyweight history. And the fans were expecting something spectacular as it was a fight between two of the scariest punchers in MMA history.
But, the fight was a complete disaster. Francis Ngannou landed only 11 significant strikes while Lewis landed only 20. It was a night when two decorated knockout artists were timid to change gear and land anything significant. Though the times have changed and with four first-round KO wins, Ngannou has gained back the confidence in his hands the fight with Lewis remains the worst night for Ngannou inside the octagon.
In the UFC countdown video, looking back at the Lewis fight, Francis Ngannou stated:
“When I looked back at it I felt upset. I was still very new to the sport. I didn’t have as much experience and I was pressuring myself. I t was just a lot going on.”
Has Francis Ngannou made the adjustments for the Stipe Miocic rematch?
Francis Ngannou takes on Stipe Miocic next in a much-anticipated rematch at UFC 260. Surprisingly, Ngannou is the favorite going into the fight against Miocic, who was called the greatest heavyweight of all time after his win over Daniel Cormier in the trilogy fight.
However, the question that needs to be asked is whether Ngannou has improved enough to overcome Miocic in the rematch? Can he stop the takedowns from Miocic? Is he skilled enough to break the clinch or do some damage when Miocic clinches him up against the cage? Will his cardio last after a couple of rounds where he is forced to wrestle most of the time?
None of these questions are answered yet as Ngannou did not even spend more than one round knocking out all his last four opponents. If Ngannou has not made enough adjustments in his game then it will be another rough night for him at the office. The fans can even expect a TKO finish in the later rounds from Stipe Mioic in the rematch against Francis Ngannou.