Why did they feed Cain to Ngannou

[Antix]

What is that match making about? Cain was coming back from a three year lay off and they put the guy in there with Ngannou?

Imagine they had eased Cain back into the fold again he could have made another title run if he hadn’t been so horrifically match made like that.

 

[Rob-G]

His knee went out. I think he would’ve been doomed that night no matter who he faced

 

[Lee_]

Any semblance of the old Cain would have destroyed him. The fact that they matched him against Francis really had nothing to do with his demise.

 

[Terrorist]

Dana thought he'd be punishing Nganou after the lewis affair tbh

 

[Buff]

Its called "putting over" or "doing the job" in wrestling... An old favourite takes an L to a new up-and-comer on his way out of the company to boost the new guy's profile.



Happens all the time.

Spoiler

Cain kind of fed himself to Ngannou... It was looking fairly close on paper until Cain turned up on the scales with a dad-bod and a knee brace looking like well paid cannon fodder... He was never in there to win.

 

[JonJonesLost3times]

He's injury prone and doesn't fight. In hindsight it was perfect promotion for Ngannou and a massive confidence booster.
That's what the UFC does well, they just do what's best NOW. They know the sport is predictable and if they spend all their time building fighters and things it just doesn't come to fruition all the time. They do what's best right now and the wheels just keep rolling and the money just keeps coming.
Would like to see them more careful with young guys though as we seen what happened with Sage Northcutt. But then again young guys shouldn't enter the UFC until they are ready and typically don't, but the UFC probably gave him a brilliant offer after that TV show.

 

[chupacabra5]

On paper it was a winnable fight.
We didn’t know Cain would look the way he did.

 

[jmag]

Cain would have Stipe'd him.

 

[Ice Hotel]

Cain's knee went out as soon as he began to initiate the wrestling

Cain is still the UFC GOAT HW so it's no surprise that the UFC thought he was worthy of taking on Ngannou despite the long lay off. No HW in MMA history has ever looked more impressive/dominate than Cain did in is prime.

Yeah he wasn't able to stick around and rack up title defenses but when you have the performances Cain did, against the types of opponents he had them against, I think those hold a lot more weight/credibility than title fights/defenses against people several years passed their prime.

 

[Jose Beehive]

He should have gone in with a Michel Pereira game plan.

 

[bjpenngoat]

well 2 1/2 years prior cain never looked better against Travis Browne so there was hope that guy was coming to fight. We didnt get that Cain.

 

[TJ177]

Its called "putting over" in wrestling... An old favourite takes an L to a new up-and-comer on his way out of the company to boost the new guy's profile.



Happens all the time.

Spoiler

Cain kind of fed himself to Ngannou... It was looking fairly close on paper until Cain turned up on the scales with a dad-bod and a knee brace looking like well paid cannon fodder... He was never in there to win.

Same thing they did to PVZ on the way out.

As Dana would say - "Its part of the gig".

 

[bjpenngoat]

Cain's knee went out as soon as he began to initiate the wrestling

Cain is still the UFC GOAT HW so it's no surprise that the UFC thought he was worthy of taking on Ngannou despite the long lay off. No HW in MMA history has ever looked more impressive/dominate than Cain did in is prime.

Yeah he wasn't able to stick around and rack up title defenses but when you have the performances Cain did, against the types of opponents he had them against, I think those hold a lot more weight/credibility than title fights/defenses against people several years passed their prime.

ill agree with no hw ever looked as impressive but how on earth can you call a guy who fought the same 2 people in every title defense the best ever? JDS is beyond legit, but beating bigfoot twice isnt exactly legend making. They are nice wins but cmon man, look at Stipes resume look at the names. Reem, Werdum, JDS, DC and Ngannou. Three of these guys beat Cain all by stoppage.

 

[sadoquera]

there is still people that truly believe that cain's kneww went out? francis can ko anyone with any strike, that same scenario could have happened even if cain was in his prime, previous to injury. cain's chin was never the greatest one, he went down twice approaching kongo. francis is just a best version of kongo. but no, his knee didnt went out. he was knocked out and his knee blended the same way cro cop's leg blended after gonzaga kick.

 

[Texan6533]

Cains body failed him. It probably would have happened with most top dogs in the HW division. Besides, do you think Cain would have been happy not facing a top dog?

 

[Qays Stetkevich]

What is that match making about? Cain was coming back from a three year lay off and they put the guy in there with Ngannou?

Imagine they had eased Cain back into the fold again he could have made another title run if he hadn’t been so horrifically match made like that.

Cain was always injured, a threat to hold up the division, and this may shock you in hindsight, but the matchmakers probably didn't think he'd get steam-rolled, they probably thought that a high-level wrestler who can also stand and bang would be Ngannou's biggest challenge to-date (which on paper at least it was). Looking back with 20/20 vision, yeah of course I see what you're saying. But with hindsight there are literally hundreds of fights that wouldn't have been made had we know better.

 

[Deleted member 510653]

His knee wasn't the reason Ngannou knocked him out he got clipped coming in and on the way down his leg bent in a weird way and then he started screaming in pain so the ref came in but that shouldn't be taken away from Ngannou.. Even the way Cain started off the fight was almost amateur level. The guy had just been out so long he lost his eliteness.

 

[blaseblah]

What is that match making about? Cain was coming back from a three year lay off and they put the guy in there with Ngannou?

Imagine they had eased Cain back into the fold again he could have made another title run if he hadn’t been so horrifically match made like that.

Cain was the favorite. Ngannou was supposed to have a weakness against wrestlers.

 

[Volador]

What is that match making about? Cain was coming back from a three year lay off and they put the guy in there with Ngannou?

Imagine they had eased Cain back into the fold again he could have made another title run if he hadn’t been so horrifically match made like that.

I remember back at that time, some were saying that Cain's wrestling would fuck Francis up and the idea didn't seem crazy. Francis was only a single fight removed from the Stipe loss and the Derrick Lewis debacle. He had KO'd Blaydes, but people were still unsure if he had evolved in any way or if he was still surrounded by yes men and had no cardio, wrestling or heart. Big names like Cain command big money too, so Dana doesn't want to give them easy comeback fights, he wants to squeeze value out of them with huge main events. In retrospect it was some fucked up shit for sure.

I guess Dana figured he could either give notoriety to his best HW prospect by beating an all time great with a big name, or have an all time great back in the game for huge fights by beating his golden prospect, kinda like when Cruz came back vs TJ and won. This game is cruel and ruthless as shit lol.

 

[alex1751]

His knee went out. I think he would’ve been doomed that night no matter who he faced

Not really. He went down after the uppercut and only then injured his knee.