Francis Ngannoy last fought for the UFC heavyweight title at UFC 220 against Stipe Miocic in January of 2020. He lost the fight via a unanimous decision.
The fight kind of exposed Ngannou’s flaws and Miocic stuck to a perfect game plan and got the better of the Cameroonian giant. The title shot came after a six-fight stoppage victory in the UFC. Ngannou then fought Derrick Lewis at UFC 226, where he lost the fight again via unanimous decision. It was regarded by many as one of the most boring heavyweight fights in the history of UFC.
After the loss to Lewis, everyone thought that Ngannou has been figured out by the other heavyweights in the division. This was also the first time, Ngannou was riding on a losing streak. But Ngannou made a quick comeback as he won his next three-fights by the virtue of first-round knockouts. He ended Curtis Blaydes, Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos in less than three minutes.
Suddenly, Ngannou is on a cusp of a title shot once again. But this type the former title challenger is visibly frustrated as he isn’t being given a fight by the UFC. Ngannou believes that he deserves a title shot, but UFC is keen on booking a trilogy between Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier.
“They have to do something with me,” Ngannou said. “OK, so what is that? I want the damn answer. I want to know what’s my position. I want to know what I’m doing here. I’m the No. 2 (heavyweight), and everyone is booked. I’m just here looking like, I don’t know, some guy desperate to get a fight.”
“Actually, in my position, the only fight I’ll be running to is the title – but I don’t know if they want to make me run to any fight,” Ngannou said. “Also, I wanted to fight before the end of the year. Like, it doesn’t matter who that is. I have to fight because I get that you guys don’t give much. But even though they don’t care, it’s kind of frustrating. Right now, it’s not something that I’m very happy to talk about. It’s been an exhausting process.”
“It’s very frustrating right now, and I kind of (have to) think what to do, what is possible,” Ngannou said. “The only guy in the top 10 that is available right now, as I saw, is Shamil (Abdurakhimov). But Shamil just lost against Curtis Blaydes. Curtis Blaydes doesn’t have a fight, and I fought him twice already. So it’s not some fight that I’m looking for. And that’s all. They said I could wait to see what’s going on Nov. 9, to see maybe if (Alexander) Volkov beats ‘JDS.’ But the problem – first of all, that’s not a fight I’m looking for. And second of all, Volkov turned this fight down twice…” (H/T – MMAJunkie)
Who do you guys want to see Francis Ngannou fight next?
ALSO READ:
Watch: Holly Holm consoles an emotional Michelle Waterson after UFC on ESPN+ 19 main event loss
SHARE
