Francis Ngannou attends the UFC Fight Night: Ultimate media day at Wanda Realm Hotel on November 22, 2018 (Photo by Emmanuel Wong/Getty Images)
UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou questions the outcome of UFC Vegas 56 main event clash between Alexander Volkov and Jairzinho Rozenstruik
This weekend’s UFC Fight Night featured a heavyweight clash between top-ranked fighters Alexander Volkov and Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Both fighters were coming off losses, and interestingly the fighters that defeated them, Curtis Blaydes and Tom Aspinall will end up fighting each other at UFC London in July. The card absolutely delivered, with some fantastic performances, capped off by a controversial end to the main event.
The main event began with both fighters throwing kicks right off the back. Rozenstruik caught one of the straight kicks that Volkov attempted, and landed two uppercuts through the pipe. However, the Russian showed incredible resilience and will to stay in the fight, bouncing back with a straight left that staggered Rozenstruik. The mouthpiece went flying as Rozenstruik’s knees buckled, and the Russian poured on the volume of punches that led to Herb Dean intervening.
It was an early stoppage in many people’s opinion considering that Rozernstruik was still on his feet and trying to defend. Regardless it was a great victory for the veteran Russian who bounced back from a loss.
UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou was amongst the first to react to the outcome of the main event. Much like the others who witnesses the fight, Ngannou was baffled by the stoppage, and reacted to it on Twitter by saying, ‘Early stoppage? 🤔’
UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and the UFC top brass have been at loggerheads over a pay dispute and certain terms in his contract. The Predator had even gone out on a limb claiming that he wants a move away from the UFC to boxing. Currently, he is sidelined with a knee injury that will keep him out of action for this year entirely.
Ngannou dug deep to overcome some adversity in his last fight and first title defence against the crafty Ciryl Gane. On the other hand, following his spectacular win against Dillian Whyte, Tyson Fury laid the stage for a future blockbuster clash against UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
To everyone’s surprise, Ngannou who was in attendance made a surprise appearance in the ring following Tyson’s victory, and the pair laid the foundation for the idea of a super-fight.
“I’m the boxing heavyweight champion, [he’s the] UFC heavyweight champion,” Fury told ESPN after his win. “He’s in great shape – look at the muscles on him.”
Ngannou, who’s currently out of action, recovering from a knee injury he sustained while in camp for his most recent UFC title defence, declared, “I want to find out who is the baddest motherf***** in the planet.”
“Good man, Francis,” Fury replied with a shout.
And former kickboxer and current PFL President Ray Sefo has an edge over the rest in luring Francis away from the UFC as he works closely with Ngannou already.
“100 percent,” Sefo told Hosheh MMA regarding interest in PFL pursuing Ngannou. “If Francis is a free agent — Francis is my teammate [at Xtreme Couture], you know? So, when he becomes a free agent and he’s allowed to talk to anybody in terms of — should I say when he’s ‘shopping’ — then we’ll definitely sit down and talk. Until then I don’t see him going anywhere, but anything’s possible, 100 percent. [50/50 pay-per-view [PPV] shares will attract all sorts], absolutely. That’s the key.”
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