Francis Ngannou took home a bonus for this surprising finish nine years ago today.
Not many have established themselves as a feared knockout artist quite like Ngannou has during a 12-year stint in combat sports.
En path to Ngannou knocking out Stipe Miocic to develop into UFC heavyweight champion in 2021, ‘The Predator’ recorded KO after KO to cement himself as essentially the most brutal puncher in mixed martial arts.
But it surely will not be only together with his fists that the Cameroonian star has done the job contained in the cage, and he shocked fans with how he prolonged his winning run within the UFC to 4 straight fights almost a decade ago.
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What was Francis Ngannou’s most impressive UFC performance?
‘The Predator’ knocked out Stipe Miocic, Cain Velasquez, Curtis Blaydes, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and more during his stint within the Octagon.
Francis Ngannou used a kimura in his one and only UFC submission win
After earning a spot within the UFC with a 5-1 begin to life within the cage, Ngannou outlined himself as one to look at within the heavyweight division by winning his first three fights within the promotion via KO or TKO.
Given his status as a devastating puncher, many expected that trend to proceed at UFC Albany on at the present time, December 9, in 2016. The event had a heavyweight focus, with Derrick Lewis beating Shamil Abdurakhimov within the principal event.
Ngannou set the stage for ‘The Black Beast’ within the co-headliner, but he got the job done in a much different way.
To the surprise of many, Ngannou submitted Anthony Hamilton with a kimura, earning a $50k performance bonus for a surprising display of technical grappling prowess.
The result marked only the second submission of the Cameroonian’s profession and he wouldn’t record one other across his remaining 10 fights within the UFC.
He soon returned to his KO ways, sleeping the likes of Alistair Overeem, Cain Velasquez, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and Miocic together with his frightening power.
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Francis Ngannou believes UFC needs him to make the ‘biggest fight of all time’
Despite his UFC tenure ending in a lower than cordial way, talk of Ngannou returning to the Octagon continues to exist.
With a struggle to search out opponents delaying plans for his second fight under the PFL banner, the Cameroonian’s MMA future stays uncertain, as he as a substitute pursues a 3rd outing within the boxing ring.
That has only boosted calls for ‘The Predator’ and the UFC to place their differences aside.
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For the time being, the UFC heavyweight discussion includes Jon Jones’ desire to fight Alex Pereira on the White House. Joe Rogan believes that will go down as the largest fight ever, but Ngannou recently had something to say about that.
“You understand the reply, you don’t need me for that,” Ngannou told TMZ Sports when asked what an even bigger fight is between him vs Jones and Jones vs Pereira.
“Should I answer? Do you actually need me to reply? The largest fight of all time can only occur with Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou. That’s all I can say about that,” he added.
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