Demetrious Johnson doubles down on belief that Anthony Joshua beats Francis Ngannou in MMA fight

Demetrious Johnson stands by his opinion that Anthony Joshua would beat Francis Ngannou in an MMA fight.

Back in March, Joshua and “The Predator” went one-on-one inside the boxing ring. Ngannou stunned the combat sports world when he nearly defeated Tyson Fury in their exhibition showdown, and he was hoping to capitalize on that momentum. Instead, Joshua ended up scoring two knockdowns before brutally shutting the lights off the former UFC Heavyweight Champion in round two.

While it was a stern reminder that MMA fighters are in a boxer’s world inside the ring, “Mighty Mouse” took it a step further and said that AJ would find the same success inside the cage. Fans panned Johnson for that assessment, but he’s sticking to his guns.

RELATED: FRANCIS NGANNOU OPENS UP ON DEVASTATING KNOCKOUT LOSS TO ANTHONY JOSHUA: “I WASN’T THERE ANYMORE”

Demetrious Johnson Holds Firm in Belief that Anthony Joshua Would Beat Francis Ngnanou Under MMA Rules

During an appearance on MMAFighting.com‘s “The MMA Hour,” Demetrious Johnson doubled down on his original comments on how an MMA fight between Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou would play out.

“It’s not like Francis is some world-class kickboxer,” Johnson said. “You look at all Francis fights, he does have some submission wins, he does have some where he takes somebody down.

“But if I can take a guy like Anthony Joshua, who is an athletic specimen, who understands range and distance, and I train him for six months — six months — to defend a takedown, check the leg kick, and just box. You’re not going to have 16-ounce gloves. The distance doesn’t change at all. … So if I can take somebody who is athletic, which, Anthony Joshua is athletic, it’s an easy fight.”

Joshua is currently waiting on what will transpire in the rematch between newly-minted unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury. Usyk defeated Fury in a thrilling 12-round affair, and a rematch clause is in place. While AJ has yet to go one-on-one with Fury, he’s already suffered two losses against Usyk.