Jackpot!
When a combat sports promoter gets a heavyweight who has the looks, the personality and the ability to turn giants’ lights out, they’ve hit the jackpot.
And Dana White is not taking Francis Ngannou for granted as the UFC president is well aware of the rough diamond that he has uncovered.
On Friday, White showered Ngannou with praise as he proclaimed the Cameroon-born behemoth a future heavyweight champion and one who could rule the roost over the most unpredictable weight division in prizefighting.
“I believe that this guy has the potential to become the heavyweight champion of the world,” White said. “I also believe he has the potential to hold that title for a very long time.”
That was a lot of pressure to put on a fighter who readily admits that he is a novice in the sport of mixed martial arts but in Ngannou’s toughest test to date, he dispatched the man who once held the honour of baddest man on the planet with little to no difficulty.
Andrei Arlovski is a legend of the Octagon and one who has been in there and done the dance with some of the greatest of all time.
He holds victories over Fabricio Werdum, Frank Mir and Tim Sylvia but he was unable to do anything opposite the man who can lead MMA’s charge into France, where the sport remains illegal.
Saturday night in Denver represented a passing of the baton as one of the doyens of MMA went down so that a prospect could shine.
Every time we see Ngannou, he looks to have improved and while he proudly showed off his ground game with his stunning kimura last month, it was his trademark knockout power that reared its horrifying head this weekend.
A Fox audience was treated to an exhibition from the man with arguably the most imposing physique in the UFC.
6 foot 3 inches. 250lbs. And fucking terrifying.
Ngannou is always going to be discussed in the same breath as former UFC heavyweight Cheick Kongo, not only due to the fact that they both reside in Paris but also because of their physiques.
Intimidation plays a bigger role in the fight game than most of its competitors would admit. And when you fill up a room the way that Ngannou does, more opponents than not will feel that shiver of fear creep up their spines.
Arlovski was a huge step-up in competition for Ngannou this weekend and was supposed to offer the first true test of his UFC career.
It was one that Ngannou passed with flying colours and this devastating uppercut.
Beautiful upper cut going backwards by ngannou! #ufcdenver #predator pic.twitter.com/QeSsO2IH2J
— Big Dog MMA (@Bigdogmmadaily) January 29, 2017
Fight fans love nothing more than action and it’s no surprise then to see them gravitate towards Ngannou as none of his professional victories have required the judges.
The Frenchman takes his destiny in his own hands and that spells excitement for spectators.
30 is young for a heavyweight, relatively speaking, and the sky really is the limit for Ngannou who knew exactly who he wanted next following his 92-second demolition job over ‘The Pitbull’.
“I talked about Junior Dos Santos and Alistair Overeem, but I just talked about them because I thought that Cain Velasquez was injured,” Ngannou said in his post-fight press conference. “If he’s in the game, I’m ready for him. He’s the next one I’d like to fight.”
No wonder everybody’s talking about Francis Ngannou.
