On Sunday evening, Francis Ngannou reintroduced himself to the MMA world, knocking out former two-time UFC champion Cain Velasquez in just 26 seconds at UFC Phoenix. It was the biggest win of Ngannou’s career to date and potentially set him up for another shot at the heavyweight title later this year. Perhaps more importantly, it put to bed concerns many had about Ngannou after his mostly terrible 2018 and reasserted himself as one of the most feared fighters in the world. Just ask Joe Rogan. Over the weekend, Rogan recorded a Fight Companion podcast for UFC Phoenix, and after watching Ngannou demolish Velasquez, Rogan declared Ngannou the scariest fighter he has ever seen. “He’s so big, dude,” said Rogan.” He’s so big and so dangerous. He’s incredible. Cain is one of the best of all time, that’s how good Ngannou is. This is the scariest guy I’ve ever seen.” Prior to last year, sentiment surrounding Ngannou was very similar. Making his UFC debut in 2015, Ngannou surged to a title shot by amassing a 6-0 record over years, with five devastating knockouts and one submission for good measure. When he was set to fight Stipe Miocic for the title at UFC 220, many expected it to be the start of a new era at heavyweight. Instead, Miocic played spoiler, outwrestling Ngannou over 25 minutes and retaining his belt. Not only was it a setback for Ngannou, but it also affected his mental game, and Ngannou admitted he let that “fear” affect his performance against Derrick Lewis later that year. People began wondering if Miocic has “broken” Ngannou for good but “The Predator” returned to form against Curtis Blaydes in November, knocking out the wrestler in 45 seconds and now, after this performance against Velasquez, it appears the Ngannou of old is back, and Rogan thinks that is bad news for the heavyweight division, especially given Ngnanou’s relative youth in the division. “I’m telling you, dude, if that guy keeps learning, and it seems like he had a weird spot, but you know what I really like about that weird spot that he got into?” Rogan said. “He was honest about it. He said, ‘I carried over fear from my last fight.’ A guy that can look at himself that honestly...” “Francis is the scariest of all time. The thing about Francis is, he’s learning at this really rapid rate when you look at a guy that’s only been doing it for how many years now? 100 percent training, he’s been fighting for maybe five years. I think five years from the time he learned martial arts. Dude, he’s a movie character.” After his win at UFC Phoenix, Ngannou began lobbying for another title shot but UFC President Dana White has already put the kibosh on that, saying they have a different opponent lined up for Daniel Cormier. But Cormier seems amenable to the idea and if it happens, will likely try to replicate Miocic’s strategy of taking the fight into deep waters and testing Ngannou’s cardio. And he better hurry, because Rogan thinks it’s only a matter of time before that one weakness in Ngannou’s game is no longer a factor. “Here’s the thing though, all he has to do is get better at that first round and do you really think a lot of guys are gonna make it into that second or third round?” MUST-READ STORIES Uppercut. Francis Ngannou says uppercut, not knee injury, caused Cain Velasquez KO: ‘You can look at the video’. Beat. If that’s the fight presented, UFC champ Daniel Cormier says ‘I will beat Francis Ngannou’. Wow. Paul Felder suffered collapsed lung late in UFC Phoenix win over James Vick. $$$. Nick Diaz not coming back to UFC any time soon: ‘If there was an offer I couldn’t refuse, things would be different’. Respect. Kron Gracie says it’s ‘cool’ that Conor McGregor ‘respects’ Gracie family. VIDEO STEW The MMA Hour. Free fight. Usman ahead of UFC 235. Cejudo on rematching TJ. History of the MMA heavyweight rankings. LISTEN UP The Co-Main Event. Discussing the resurgence of heavyweight division last weekend. Severe MMA. Discussing the UFC’s ESPN debut and the Bellator double header. SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE Nick’s statement. Knows DC is hurt but still out here trying desperately. . @dc_mma UFC 236 still no headliner. The fans deserve a HW title fight. Me and you on April 13 only makes sense. We making this official or what? — Stipe Miocic (@stipemiocic) February 19, 2019 Izzy. Hardo. I got two lungs... I just want a beer for shitsake — Paul Felder (@felderpaul) February 18, 2019 Learning lessons. Didn’t fight the right fight last night. Learn a lot from the fight, definitely be back. Just want to say thank you for all the support from my fans, friends, family, coaches, teammates and students — Jimmie Rivera (@JimmieRivera135) February 18, 2019 Al with the answers. Ufc fighters are holding out for one reason or another... I know why and I have a solution — A1 Iaquinta (@ALIAQUINTA) February 19, 2019 Technically true I suppose. Not trying to start a fight but..... wrestlers hold 7 of 8 male ufc titles and people are meh..... 1 high level BJJ guy chokes a very low level grappler and people be like #BJJ4life — Ben Askren (@Benaskren) February 18, 2019 Respect. This is awesome. Don Frye and Keiji Muto visiting Takayama is a lot of awesome in one picture. pic.twitter.com/3Btbh2dDMl — chris charlton (@reasonjp) February 19, 2019 Well that seems insane. Wanna know a secret ? The commission almost didn’t let me fight because of my eyelash extensions — Valerie Loureda (@valerielouredaa) February 18, 2019 FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS Pat Curran (23-7) vs. A.J. McKee (13-0); Bellator 221, May 11. TODAY IN MMA HISTORY 2016: Kimbo Slice fought Dada 5000 at Bellator 149. Initially Slice won by exhaustion but the results was overturned after Slice tested positive for nandrolone. FINAL THOUGHTS Honestly, I would much rather see Ngannou-DC than DC-Stipe. We already saw that and, I’m sorry, if you get bolted in one, you don’t get an immediate rematch. And Stipe can scream “most title defenses” from the rooftops forever and it won’t change my mind. Three. Three title defenses. This isn’t Cyborg’s 37 years being undefeated or DJ’s 11 straight defenses. He was champion for two years and got colded in under 5 minutes. Take another fight.And if the UFC insists on doing DC-Brock or DC-Stipe, Ngannou-Lewis 2 and this time let’s see them actually fight. If youre answer to the poll is “No”, sound off in the comments about who is the scariest of all time. Thanks for reading and see y’all tomorrow. EXIT POLL Poll Is Francis Ngannou the scariest MMA fighter of all time? This poll is closed 37% Yes (639 votes) 62% No (1050 votes) 1689 votes total Vote Now If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let him know about it! Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram, and like us on Facebook!<doc-sep>Francis Ngannou needed just 26 seconds last Sunday night to welcome the great Cain Velasquez back with a stunning knockout in front of the former heavyweight champ’s home crowd. Just like that Ngannou returned to being a serious factor in the UFC’s heavyweight division, something that was lost for a bit after he suffered back-to-back loses to Stipe Miocic and Derrick Lewis, in what might have been one of the worst fights of all time, last year. Ngannou has now won two straight fights, both with first round KOs, and is very much in line with getting another shot at a title fight. And he’s got a big fan in Joe Rogan, who raved about Ngannou while watching Sunday’s fights on his live podcast. From MMAFighting: “He’s so big, dude,” said Rogan.” He’s so big and so dangerous. He’s incredible. Cain is one of the best of all time, that’s how good Ngannou is. This is the scariest guy I’ve ever seen. I’m telling you, dude, if that guy keeps learning, and it seems like he had a weird spot, but you know what I really like about that weird spot that he got into?” Rogan said. “He was honest about it. He said, ‘I carried over fear from my last fight.’ A guy that can look at himself that honestly… Francis is the scariest of all time. The thing about Francis is, he’s learning at this really rapid rate when you look at a guy that’s only been doing it for how many years now? 100 percent training, he’s been fighting for maybe five years. I think five years from the time he learned martial arts. Dude, he’s a movie character.” Rogan, who has long been a color analyst with the UFC, is not wrong at all about his break down of Ngannou. The UFC initially might have rushed him into a title fight, one which he lost to Miocic via unanimous decision, which speaks to how good of a fighter Miocic is. Then Ngannou carried that fear from his loss over into that awful fight with Lewis. But after Sunday’s victory, which was his sixth first-round victory in eight UFC fights, Ngannou said he’s back to having fun fighting and that’s freeing him up to be a dominant knockout artist again. Remember what he did to Alistair Overeem back in late 2017? Joe Rogan's reaction to Francis Ngannou uppercutting Overeem into a different dimension is… Everything 😂pic.twitter.com/gIgEWuElmx — Watch #UFCPrague live on BT Sport (@btsportufc) February 15, 2019 Yeah, he’s back to being that guy again. Which is great for fight fans but likely not that great if you’re a heavyweight fighter in the UFC. Because Ngannou is coming for that belt.<doc-sep>Be scared, homie. Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight title contender, Francis Ngannou, reestablished his place among the top 265-pound contenders by trashing former champion, Cain Velasquez, in the UFC on ESPN 1 main event last Sunday night (Feb. 17, 2019) in Phoenix, Arizona. Watch the video highlights here. While critics will attribute “The Predator’s” most recent knockout win to a blown knee from Velasquez (details), there’s no question Ngannou was dropping bombs inside the phone booth, a far cry from his three-round staring contest against Derrick Lewis last July. UFC color commentator, Joe Rogan, was thoroughly impressed. “He’s so big, dude,” Rogan said on his official fight companion (via MMA Fighting). “He’s so big and so dangerous. He’s incredible. Cain is one of the best of all time, that’s how good Ngannou is. Francis is the scariest of all time. The thing about Francis is, he’s learning at this really rapid rate when you look at a guy that’s only been doing it for how many years now? 100 percent training, he’s been fighting for maybe five years. I think five years from the time he learned martial arts. Dude, he’s a movie character. Here’s the thing though, all he has to do is get better at that first round and do you really think a lot of guys are gonna make it into that second or third round?” Not once in a lifetime. ONCE EVER. Ngannou (13-3) jumped out to a 6-0 start to his Octagon career with five knockouts and one submission, including consecutive beheadings over Andrei Arlovski and Alistair Overeem, two of the better heavyweight strikers of the ZUFFA era. Related Ngannou vs Velasquez Does Big Ratings For ESPN While he was later exposed by former champion, Stipe Miocic, who proved there is more to being champion than just knocking people on their asses, it appears “The Predator” learned his lesson and finally got his ego in check. Where he goes from here, remains to be seen.<doc-sep>
Francis Ngannou might not be the UFC heavyweight champion, but the Cameroonian knockout artist is one of the scariest fighters in the division. ‘The Predator’ finished former two-time UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez in just 26 seconds this past Sunday, buckling Velasquez with a right hand and finishing the Mexican-American with a barrage of strikes in the UFC on ESPN 1 main event at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. It was the biggest stoppage win of his career and, despite concerns over him losing his mojo in the Derrick Lewis fight, 32-year-old Ngannou proved that he is still a formidable threat to his fellow UFC heavyweights. UFC commentator and renowned podcast host Joe Rogan went as far as to say that Ngannou is the ‘scariest’ fighter of all-time on a recent edition of Fight Companion. “He’s so big, dude,” Rogan said, per MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew. “He’s so big and so dangerous. He’s incredible. Cain is one of the best of all time, that’s how good Ngannou is. This is the scariest guy I’ve ever seen.” Rogan, who went on to boast of Ngannou’s ultra-quick learning ability, referred to the former title challenger as a ‘movie character.’ “I’m telling you, dude, if that guy keeps learning, and it seems like he had a weird spot, but you know what I really like about that weird spot that he got into?” Rogan said. “He was honest about it. He said, ‘I carried over fear from my last fight.’ A guy that can look at himself that honestly...” “Francis is the scariest of all time. The thing about Francis is, he’s learning at this really rapid rate when you look at a guy that’s only been doing it for how many years now? 100 percent training, he’s been fighting for maybe five years. I think five years from the time he learned martial arts. Dude, he’s a movie character.” Ngannou has called for a title fight against current heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier, but UFC president Dana White insists ‘DC’ wll defend his title against someone else. Cormier, however, is willing to avenge Velasquez’ loss should the UFC make an offer.