Meet Francis Ngannou: The Unicorn of the UFC

[Substance Abuse]

As we all know, the Ngannou hype train is in full effect. Whether or not Stipe has five straight knockouts and is on the verge of making UFC Heavyweight title history, he's basically a building in the way of a hype behemoth wrecking ball by the name of Francis Ngannou. If Francis wins, the UFC gets it way. If Stipe wins, well, everything stays the same: Stipe sets a record, gets ignored by the majority of the casual MMA populace and everyone here can take him for granted.

This article by Chuck Mendenhall -- who by all means is a bit more than a casual and has written some good pieces in the past while showing his definite interest in the UFC's product -- pretty much articulates the aforementioned with much more elaboration. It's a pretty good read and I'm always happy to see Mixed Martial Arts get some mainstream love. I figured I would share it with you guys as well, in case you hadn't seen it.

Here's an excerpt:

Sitting courtside at a recent Celtics game, Francis Ngannou talks about his own inevitability. His hands are the size of boule loaves, and over the past couple of years, those hands have done the kinds of things to the heavyweight division that make this Saturday night’s UFC 220 title fight feel like a foregone conclusion. Like it’s inevitable that Stipe Miocic will fall.

Before Ngannou came along, Miocic — the UFC’s current heavyweight champion — was the beast, the Cleveland marauder who drew X’s over people’s eyes, who took whatever TNT that linebacker-size men could throw at him and shoved it down their throats. Maybe Miocic still is the beast. But listening to Ngannou tell the tale of his rise — and his conquering — is straight-up harrowing. He’s the colossus come to stop Miocic.

“Yes, it is inevitable,” he said at the game, as if bending destiny were no different from bending Anthony Hamilton’s arm. “And Stipe, he knows that, too. He knows that I’m the champ. I’m pretty sure that right now he’s really scared about what’s going to happen.”

How do you promote a fight? By speaking of a killer in dismissive terms. Who is Francis Ngannou? A heavyweight unicorn who is part Mike Tyson, part Ivan Drago, part wild imagination. This is a man who has already thoroughly envisioned his victory, right down to the last reflections.

Link: https://www.theringer.com/2018/1/18/16903500/francis-ngannou-stipe-miocic-ufc-220

 

[SoberAwakening]

You're salty as hell man...it's not that serious.

 

[Buff]

Predator bruh.

 

[Substance Abuse]

You're salty as hell man...it's not that serious.

Salty? I was sharing an article, lol.

 

[Buff]

Salty? I was sharing an article, lol.

You kinda should have specified that at the beginning... Reads like your opinion homes.

 

[Locooo]

Fuck Nu nu ga nu nu
Even if he wins he gets no hespect
Cocky arrogant motherfucker

 

[Substance Abuse]

You kinda should have specified that at the beginning... Reads like your opinion homes.

I think it's common knowledge that Stipe is considered boring personality wise and most casuals don't know him. The article pretty much elaborates on that. Ngannou is a wrecking ball. Stipe is in the way of the next big thing. I thought it was very well written.

 

[rurouni]

ngannou is just another conor disciple

 

[Substance Abuse]

ngannou is just another conor disciple

The article kind of dispels that notion. Ngannou talks about hyping up fights a lot. He says he's not like Conor.

 

[Final Say]

i find it funny that we keep hearing the tone in which this article is written in regards to francis.

i keep seeing comparisons to all time great fighters. i keep hearing that theres an air of inevitability around francis.

he has never shown technical brilliance, in fact the opposite. deficiencies. there are large holes in every aspect of his game. hes been dominated on the ground, hes been hit standing, he swings wildly and recklessly.

hes dangerous to any man on the planet, but hes not a mike tyson, jon jones.. not even a mcgregor or rousey in terms of skill. hes extremely raw right now, people are way out ahead of this train imo. unless hes a completely different fighter than weve seen previously, even with a win this image is a tough sell.

 

[Blanqa Blanqua]

Schaub has stated he'd like to lick the unicorn's horn.

Factz.

 

[Toco]

I don't think miocic would be ignored if he wins against ngannou, but his unwillingness to promote with the ufc might just continue to deter him from becoming a star

 

[trolldum]

Why would Francis be a bigger draw than Stipe? There is no data to support the claim that Stipe is much lesser draw than any other HW champ in the history. Other than Brock, nobody was better draw consistently. There were actually only few fights at HW ever that drew much more than Stipe's title fights.

 

[Final Say]

I don't think miocic would be ignored if he wins against ngannou, but his unwillingness to promote with the ufc might just continue to deter him from becoming a star

i think stipe would prefer to be an all time great without being a star. he'll make enough money as is if he just keeps steady, in fact hes already well off from fighting.

he has modeled his public persona very closely to other pro athletes who tend to be polite, quiet and respectful. fedor was similar but benefited from being russian and unwilling to speak english and thus more mysterious.

 

[Miiiiiiighty]

Why would Francis be a bigger draw than Stipe? There is no data to support the claim that Stipe is much lesser draw than any other HW champ in the history. Other than Brock, nobody was better draw consistently. There were actually only few fights at HW ever that drew much more than Stipe's title fights.

Because he will be sold by the UFC as that big black beast A-Level athlete with the punching power's record and labelled as the " most dangerous man in the world " etc etc and people always have a fascination for the HW division...

 

[Fight Professor]

For once UFC got the marketing right. Now they need to pray Francis will not let them down. Or they will have no choice but to co-promote with Conor due to a lack of stars.

 

[Robert Clarke]

Final Say, you are 100% correct. Right On !!!

 

[trolldum]

Because he will be sold by the UFC as that big black beast A-Level athlete with the punching power's record and labelled as the " most dangerous man in the world " etc etc and people always have a fascination for the HW division...

Not after Stipe knocks him out. He will end up like Sokoudjou.

 

[Buff]

I think it's common knowledge that Stipe is considered boring personality wise and most casuals don't know him. The article pretty much elaborates on that. Ngannou is a wrecking ball. Stipe is in the way of the next big thing. I thought it was very well written.

I'm not disputing the semanics of the article, just saying that I thought that you had written otras your opinion instead of copying and pasting an article... It's a layout issue.

 

[soulsstealer]

I always liked francis ever since he bêtad joe hogan