Francis Ngannou: The Last Year

There’s no doubt about it, Francis Ngannou is one of the hardest hitters in the UFC, he is a freak train! However, the last year for The Predator wasn’t exactly brilliant and today we will talk about that.

UFC 226: Derrick Lewis def. Francis Ngannou (Decision)

Let’s go back to international fight week 2018 where Francis Ngannou co-main evented against Derrick Lewis. I said in my predictions that “this fight won’t go past the first round” however it didn’t go like that at all. The fight went to decision and it was a bore from start to finish. Derrick Lewis won the fight but it was still a boring fight.

UFC Fight Night: Francis Ngannou def. Curtis Blaydes (Round 1; TKO)

Ngannou would then go on to fight top heavyweight prospect, Curtis Blaydes and this wasn’t the first time these two fought as the first time, Ngannou won. Heading into the event, many thought Blaydes would win, myself included but Ngannou proved many people wrong by knocking Blaydes out in less than a minute!

UFC on ESPN: Francis Ngannou def. Cain Velasquez (Round 1; TKO)

Cain Velasquez is often considered as the greatest heavyweight of all time so when he was expected to face Francis Ngannou, many favoured him to win (once again, myself included) but yet again Ngannou proved people wrong by defeating Velasquez in just 26 seconds. This set Ngannou up for a fight against Junior Dos Santos.

UFC on ESPN: Francis Ngannou def. Junior Dos Santos (Round 1; TKO)

A fight that was supposed to take place at UFC 239 got pushed forward a week early and Ngannou easily took out Junior Dos Santos in just over a minute. The Predator has his sights set on the gold and in my opinion, he has more than deserved it.

Francis Ngannou has earned he right to fight the winner of Cormier/Stipe and I can’t imagine why he shouldn’t. He’s beaten big names and has had a hell of a past year in the octagon and I’m curious to see what happens for Ngannou within the next 12 months.