Anthony Joshua laid waste to Francis Ngannou earlier tonight (Fri., March 8, 2024) LIVE on DAZN pay-per-view (PPV) from inside Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ending the former UFC heavyweight champion with a scary knockout punch in the second round.
I guess the curse of Drake is still a thing.
Ngannou, who looked tremendous in his boxing debut against Tyson Fury late last year, was about a 3-1 underdog for his clash with Joshua on Friday. “Predator” looked so good in his fight against Fury that most believed he had a reasonable shot to upset Joshua and continue his disruption of boxing’s heavyweight best.
Unfortunately for Ngannou and the MMA community as a whole, Joshua wasn’t playing around. After scoring an impressive knockdown in the first round, Joshua followed his efforts up with another in the second. Ngannou mustered enough strength to return to his feet only to have Joshua deliver one of the most perfect right hands you’ll ever see that caught the former UFC champion flush and sent him into another dimension. Ngannou folded up and went crashing to the canvas where he lay for a good 60 seconds.
Ngannou, who had never been knocked out before in his professional combat career, eventually made his way back to his feet. However, the finish was absolutely brutal. One that some fighters never come back from. The MMA community quickly took to social media to discuss Ngannou’s scary loss following Joshua’s insane right hand.
Check out some of the reaction below:
That was a terrifying knockout. Better not see any UFC bootlickers celebrating Francis’s loss. Guy has balls of steel and still deserves all the respect for what he’s done lately.
Joshua handled that masterfully. Absolutely nasty KO.
— Martian MMA (@UFO_UFC) March 9, 2024
pray he’s healthy.
A fighter really should give their brain a year to recover after a night with this type of trauma. https://t.co/kkHDrnjKGV
— CrisCyborg.Com (@criscyborg) March 9, 2024
BREAKING: Jake Paul cancels his fight with Mike Tyson and calls out Francis Ngannou for a bout in 3 weeks. Says, “Stop ducking me.”
— MacMally (@MacMallyMMA) March 9, 2024
Let’s see Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury in MMA; Francis Ngannou beats them both in the same night.
— Dillon Danis (@dillondanis) March 9, 2024
Holy shit that was nasty
— Demetrious Johnson (@MightyMouse) March 9, 2024
I can’t believe the 3rd best HW boxer in the world knocked out a guy that started boxing last year.
— MMA Roasted (@MMARoasted) March 9, 2024
Let this be A BIG WARNING to MMA fighters!! Stop coming to boxing it will only get worst. ITS more even if we just go to your sport! OVER! ONE PUNCH.
Sending healing prayers to FRANCIS! Your bravery and guts should be commendable.
CONGRATULATIONS Anthony Joshua. https://t.co/D5TMyUGqcQ
— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) March 9, 2024
Those are three of some of the hardest right hands I’ve seen land in combat sports and they all landed in one fight against Ngannou. My goodness! Anthony Joshua made it look easy tonight. Good to see Francis back on his feet after that.
— Kenny Florian (@kennyflorian) March 9, 2024
Drake did it again
— Brian BOOM Kelleher (@brianboom135) March 9, 2024
Still the Baddest Mufucka on the planet
— KAMARU USMAN (@USMAN84kg) March 9, 2024
For complete Ngannou vs. Joshua results, coverage, and highlights, click HERE.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
