Francis Ngannou News

Tom Taylor - February 13, 2019

This Sunday night, in the main event of the first-ever UFC card on ESPN, former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez will make his long-awaited return to the cage. His welcome committee will be former title challenger Francis Ngannou. Ahead of this compelling heavyweight showdown, it’s abundantly clear what Cain Velasquez needs to be most wary of: Francis Ngannou hits absurdly hard. Ngannou hits so hard, in fact, that UFC President Dana White once compared the French-Cameroonian’s power to a Ford Escort moving at full speed.

Tom Taylor - January 14, 2019

Today, Francis Ngannou is one of the UFC’s most fearsome heavyweight contenders. Yet not all that long ago, he was living in poverty in Cameroon. Having established himself in the UFC, Ngannou is now giving back to his community in Cameroon. He’s now opened up the country’s first “first full MMA and combat sport gym” as part of his charitable organization the Francis Ngannou Foundation.

Chris Taylor - January 12, 2019

Cain Velasquez (14-2 MMA) will return from a thirty-month hiatus in the main event of UFC Phoenix on February 17 to take on Francis Ngannou. The former UFC heavyweight champion, Cain Velasquez, has not competed inside the octagon since July of 2016, where he defeated Travis Browne via first-round TKO at UFC 200.

Chris Taylor - December 22, 2018

Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez has signed a new four-fight deal with the UFC and will return tot he octagon on February 17 in Phoenix, Arizona. The news of Cain’s new four-fight contract came via ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, who posted the following on Twitter.

Cole Shelton - November 25, 2018

UFC Beijing featured two heavyweight fights that had major impacts on the divisional rankings. In the main event, Francis Ngannou took on Curtis Blaydes in a highly anticipated rematch. Meanwhile, in the co-main event, veteran Alistair Overeem took on UFC newcomer Sergey Pavlovich. Ultimately, both Overeem and Ngannou won their fights by knockout, which will surely cause both to surge up the divisional rankings. Blaydes and Pavlovich, meanwhile, will have to return to the drawing board.

Tom Taylor - November 25, 2018

UFC color commentator Joe Rogan was not on duty for Saturday’s UFC Beijing broadcast, and instead hosted one of his popular Fight Companion podcasts for the card, alongside his friends Brendan Schaub, Bryan Callen and Eddie Bravo. As you can probably imagine, the whole gang was quite impressed by the UFC Beijing main event, which saw former UFC heavyweight title challenger Francis Ngannou rebound from losses to Stipe Miocic and Derrick Lewis with a thunderous, first-round knockout of streaking American wrestler Curtis Blaydes.

Chris Taylor - November 24, 2018

Former Strikeforce and DREAM heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem snapped his two-fight losing skid at today’s UFC Beijing event. “The Reem” needed less than five minutes to hand promotional newcomer Sergey Pavlovich the first loss of his professional mixed martial arts career.

Chris Taylor - November 24, 2018

A heavyweight tilt between perennial division contenders Curtis Blaydes and Francis Ngannou headlined today’s UFC Beijing event. The bout served as a rematch, as Francis Ngannou and Curtis Blaydes had previously met at UFC Fight Night 86 in April of 2016, with “The Predator” emerging victorious by way of second-round TKO (doctors stoppage).

Chris Taylor - November 24, 2018

Francis Ngannou (12-3 MMA) snapped his two-fight losing skid in tonight’s UFC Beijing main event, scoring a first-round TKO victory over Curtis Blaydes. “The Predator” was able to land a beautifully timed right hand just seconds into the opening round which sent Curtis Blaydes crashing to the canvas.

Chris Taylor - November 24, 2018

A heavyweight collision between perennial division contenders Curtis Blaydes and Francis Ngannou headlined tonight’s UFC Beijing event. The bout served as a rematch, as Francis Ngannou had previously defeated Curtis Blaydes via second-round TKO (doctors stoppage) at UFC Fight Night 86 in April of 2016.

Chris Taylor - November 24, 2018

A key heavyweight rematch between perennial division contenders Curtis Blaydes and Francis Ngannou headlined tonight’s UFC Beijing event. Curtis Blaydes enters tonight’s UFC Beijing main event on a five-fight win streak, his latest being a third-round TKO victory over Alistair Overeem at UFC 225.

Tom Taylor - November 22, 2018

Francis Ngannou began the year 2018 as arguably the most hyped fighter on the UFC roster. Unfortunately, the year hasn’t gone quite the way he planned. Currently riding back-to-back losses to Stipe Miocic and Derrick Lewis, the hulking Cameroonian-French knockout artist will enter his Saturday, UFC Beijing rematch with Curtis Blaydes in a must-win scenario. From the sounds of it, however, he’s in a good place mentally as this crucial contest bears down.

Tom Taylor - November 13, 2018

The year 2018 has not been kind to Francis Ngannou. Though the hulking Cameroonian-French heavyweight began the year as perhaps the UFC’s most hyped fighter, he was then dominated in his anticipated title fight with Stipe Miocic, and defeated by Derrick Lewis in one of the most disappointing fights ever. After this tough run in 2018, Ngannou’s next opponent Curtis Blaydes isn’t sure what to expect when they meet in the main event of UFC Beijing on November 24. “He’s probably in a hole right now,” Curtis Blaydes said during a recent media scrum (via MMAjunkie). “0-2 after being the hotshot? That’s got to be a dark, dark place. I want him to be his best. I don’t want any excuses out of his camp or the fans or the company. I want him at his best. I’ll beat him 10 out of 10 times.”

Tom Taylor - September 25, 2018

There was a time when UFC President Dana White was one of Francis Ngannou’s most vocal supporters. A little less than a year ago, the UFC boss was referring to the Cameroonian-French heavyweight as a future superstar and the next big thing at heavyweight. Yet in the wake of Francis Ngannou’s back to back decision defeats to Stipe Miocic and Derrick Lewis — the latter of which was a particularly disappointing performance — UFC President Dana White has accused the heavyweight of having an ego problem.

Tom Taylor - September 12, 2018

After Francis Ngannou’s back-to-back decision losses to then UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and Derrick Lewis, UFC President Dana White accused the Cameroonian-French heavyweight contender of having an ego problem. “I can tell you that his ego absolutely did run away with him,” White said of Francis Ngannou in an interview with MMA Fighting. “The minute that happens to you in the fight game, you start to fall apart. I had some personal encounters with him, as did other people in the organization, and this guy’s ego was so out of control.”

Tom Taylor - August 27, 2018

The UFC’s big debut in Beijing, China will have a suitably big main event. In keeping with recent reports, the card will be headlined by heavyweight rematch between top contenders Curtis Blaydes and Francis Ngannou. The UFC made the bout official on Twitter on Sunday evening.

Drake Riggs - August 16, 2018

The heavyweight division over the past so many years has been one of the shallower ones in MMA. But that has begun to change recently. Leading the charge are several talented fighters from all over the world.

Tom Taylor - August 16, 2018

Derrick Lewis and Francis Ngannou’s UFC 226 heavyweight contender bout was expected to produce fireworks. Given the pair’s shared propensity for violent, one-punch knockouts, it seemed almost impossible that the fight would go to a decision. In the end, of course, it did. And, man, it wasn’t pretty.