Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou turned in a performance of a lifetime earlier tonight (Sat., Oct. 28, 2023) live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Boulevard Hall in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, nearly knocking out Tyson Fury over the course of 10 hard-fought rounds. Unfortunately, “Predator” came up short when the final scorecards were read.
Ngannou came out calm and collected as he tried to determine the pace of the fight. Fury seemed to get his timing towards the end of the first by feinting and landing a strong right hand. Ngannou showed a little more quickness in the second and scored some solid strikes. During an exchange inside, Fury suffered a cut on his forehead from an inadvertent headbutt.
Ngannou fired back in the third round with a perfectly-timed left hand counter. Fury went crashing to the canvas and the crowd went into an uproar. Fury eventually made his way back to his feet, but Ngannou suddenly had control of the fight. Ngannou was even more loose in the fourth round and he started to move his feet and land some good punches from all angles.
Fury seemingly took back control in the middle frames as “Predator” tired just a bit and lost some of the technique that he utilized earlier in the fight. Ngannou was waiting to time another power shot to score another knockdown, but Fury was starting to defend better. That was until the eighth round, which saw Ngannou score long punches that backed Fury up into the corner. Ngannou also went to the body and then opened up with good strikes inside. Fury was wobbly on his feet, but the heavyweight champion kept his footing.
The fight looked to be even entering the final two rounds. It was a complete shocker considering all of the doubt cast on Ngannou’s chances in this heavyweight showdown. Fury may have came back a little bit in the ninth round, but he wasn’t his normal self. Ngannou was actually matching him with technique and movement, not just using his sheer power.
In the end, it was Fury who walked away with a split-decision nod, but Ngannou was arguably the real winner. He proved everyone wrong yet again and nearly beat the best heavyweight boxer in the world in his first pro fight. Simply incredible.
Check out the full fight video highlights below:
For complete Fury vs. Ngannou results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
