Chatri Sityodtong (Sports Pro Media)
One Championship chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong believes that his heavyweight can easily beat the UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou
In the backwash of the successful conclusion ONE Championship’s greatest ever event, CEO Chatri Sityodtong was in a great mood as he dished out the promotion’s plans for the future.
He also elaborated on his new USA prime time television deal, and stated that the promotion is looking forward to hosting events outside Singapore.
Chatri has emerged as one of the most prominent figures in fight promotion in recent times. One FC has seen a significant rise in viewership, fresh talent in the roaster and exciting fights. It is written all over their promotional plan that they envision themselves as a direct challenger to the biggest player in the game, UFC.
He even managed to take some digs at the UFC by claiming that their heavyweight champion is not a complete fighter. “I like Francis Ngannou but I think our heavyweights would smoke him,” Chatri told a media scrum backstage at Singapore Indoor Stadium, when asked if he would sign the Cameroonian.
“He’s just not a complete fighter. For sure, if you ask any expert martial artist, you look at Anatoly Malykhin – Russian national pedigree wrestler, dynamite in his hands. Much faster than Francis, much better ground game, black-belt level.
“He was also a submission champion in Europe. You look at Arjan Bhullar [ who trains at AKA with DC] , wrestling, boxing. Francis is not very impressive on the ground. He’s got big, looping punches, he’s not as technical of a boxer as Anatoly or even Arjan.”
Looks like he has some big promotion vs promotion plans lined up for the future, but it wouldn’t come as a surprise if the UFC turns down a challenge of this fashion.
Curtis Blaydes’ TKO victory over Chris Daukaus surprised everyone since Blaydes has a reputation for being a wrestling heavy fighter.
The Twitter world was immediate showering praises on Blaydes for his impressive display. ESPN correspondent Brett Okamoto reacted to the moment by saying, ‘Yoooooo! Curtis ‘Ngannou’ Blaydes???? What a KO! Bannnnng!’
People were quick to credit this TKO victory, and Francis Ngannou took the comparison in good spirits by reacting to it with a joke of his own. He suggested that the knockout artist has transitioned to wrestling now after his splendid display against Ciryl Gane.
He put out a tweet by saying, ‘Ngannou is a wrestling now baby!
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