Francis Ngannou got destroyed by Anthony Joshua in boxing.
Mixed martial arts (MMA) fans took comfort in knowing the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight titleholder would deliver an equally-lopsided beating if Joshua (or Tyson Fury) ever stepped foot inside the cage.
Or would he?
“Does Anthony Joshua beat Francis Ngannou in an MMA fight? I think he does,” former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson said on YouTube (transcribed by MMA Junkie). “It would just be another striking match. AJ understands his distance. He understands the void. He has better hands than Francis, and he can make Francis even whiff and miss again. Unless Francis is going to change his tactic and go clinch him and wrestle him, (Joshua would win). But AJ is very athletic. He is smaller, he’s more limber. I think he’d be able to stuff the shot and be able to give it to Francis Ngannou.”
The last boxer who stepped into the UFC Octagon got walloped inside the opening frame.
“Another thing that could have been Francis’ downfall was he had that boxing match with Tyson Fury,” Johnson continued. “So Anthony Joshua got an opportunity to see Francis fight boxing. What he took from the boxing match on Francis vs. Tyson? He probably took, ‘Okay, Francis doesn’t move his head. He doesn’t really move his head. He’s not very light on his feet,’ where Tyson Fury, he’s kind of light on his feet and Tyson’s trying to avoid the fight. This time, Anthony Joshua got right to work right off the bat, and that’s usually not a good sign if the other opponent doesn’t respond.”
Ngannou, who departed UFC and signed with PFL in early 2023, shocked the “sweet science” community with his commanding performance against Tyson Fury last fall, leading to the Joshua fight — and dreams of a second industry-shaking performance. Unfortunately, Joshua sent us all crashing back down to reality.
The good news is, Ngannou has 20 million reasons to feel happy about his performance.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
