A prime Cain would have lost to Ngannou

[blaseblase]

I've believed this for a while but never made a thread about it before. Cain was a special talent no doubt. Good striking, insane pressure, and elite wrestling. He would beat 90% of fighters. But I've seen people arguing he would be the GOAT if not for injury and I just don't believe that to be the case. Reason being his lack of striking defense. JDS straight out KO'd him and also rocked him badly in their third fight. Kongo rocked him multiple times. Even Brock managed to hit him. And then we saw what happened against Werdum. I just don't think you can be a long term heavyweight champion with that level of striking defense.

His resume is very lacking and consists of an old Nog, Brock, Bigfoot, and going 2-1 with JDS. The JDS wins are essentially the highlight of his career. And they are fantastic wins no doubt. But they hinge on JDS being absolutely terrible fighting off the back foot and dropping his hands whenever he gets backed into to the case. That is simply not the case for most fighters. That's a weakness specific to JDS.

Enter Francis Ngannou. He has no such weaknesses. You attempt to back him into the cage he will not drop his hands, you will be met with hammers. As Cain found out when they met in the Octagon. People say that was a declined version of Cain but I'm not so sure. I think that was just Cain running into a freak of nature that he'd never met before, a fighter he couldn't immediately take down who was throwing bombs at his face, bombs he couldn't take. Cain was the betting favorite going into that fight. I can't help but recall the fake excuses the commentators threw out after that fight about his leg going out. Cain himself confirmed afterwards it was a punch that ended him:

 

[PrideNverDies]

I think it would look like the Cheick Kongo fight or Cain gets KOd. Either way Cain is getting chin checked

 

[DiazSlap]

 

[Fact Checker]

Prime Ngannou lost to Black Beast, I don’t want to hear any of that rubbish.


Minor league tier post

 

[blaseblase]

Prime Ngannou lost to Black Beast, I don’t want to hear any of that rubbish.


Minor league tier post

LMAO y'all haters need to stop bringing that fight up. He was traumatized after his first loss to Stipe and didn't throw anything during the Lewis fight. That is not representative of his talent whatsoever.

 

[rollthedice]

Depends if it's sea level Cain or not

 

[spinup]

Cain was only 36 when he faced Ngannou, and he got caught with a nasty sneaky uppercut while shooting for a TD like he has always done.
More likely than not, prime Cain would have suffeed the same fate.

 

[Fact Checker]

LMAO y'all haters need to stop bringing that fight up. He was traumatized after his first loss to Stipe and didn't throw anything during the Lewis fight. That is not representative of his talent whatsoever.

Bro somehow managed to get taken down by French White Belt Cyril Freaking Gane and you’re telling me the great NCAA ASU powerhouse prime Cain wouldn’t have put a wrestling clinic on him?


You had one too many last night bro, sober up…

 

[MotorCityCobra]

They actually fought and he got KOed in 20 seconds.

 

[blaseblase]

Cain was only 36 when he faced Ngannou, and he got caught with a nasty sneaky uppercut while shooting for a TD like he has always done.
More likely than not, prime Cain would have suffeed the same fate.

Exactly. The sole reason people claim he was washed during that fight is because he lost. Like literally every other fighter did who faced Ngannou during that period.

 

[OldBoy91]

Prime Cain was a beast, but he was beatable. He always had sloppy entries and closed the distance with reckless abandon.

He could be timed and rocked/stopped by a guy with good power and decent timing.

The issue is if you don't put him out and he does manage to get his hands locked you're in for a long, rough fight.

 

[BigTruck]

Cain lacked ko power but made up for it in volume and tkoed almost everyone he beat but I don't think that would have worked against Francis and in his prime he would have ended up going night night at some point.

 

[OldBoy91]

Exactly. The sole reason people claim he was washed during that fight is because he lost. Like literally every other fighter did who faced Ngannou during that period.

Same happens for every fighter on Sherdog. You either win, or you are washed or were never any good to begin with.

Fedor wasn't washed until he tapped to Werdum at 32 years old. Then he was an old crippled man who should have retired years ago.

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

The guy who once got destroyed by Stipe Miocic on the ground would've easily walked through Prime Cain...

 

[blaseblase]

Bro somehow managed to get taken down by French White Belt Cyril Freaking Gane and you’re telling me the great NCAA ASU powerhouse prime Cain wouldn’t have put a wrestling clinic on him?


You had one too many last night bro, sober up…

Are you high right now? He also stuffed Blaydes and Stipe. LMAO but somehow Ngannou stuffing a Cain takedown is inconceivable to you.

"No, it must be because Cain sucks now, not because the greatest heavyweight in the world is the greatest heavyweight in the world"

 

[blaseblase]

The guy who once got destroyed by Stipe Miocic on the ground would've easily walked through Prime Cain...

Prime Stipe would have also ended Cain's run if Werdum hadn't gotten there first.

 

[Hank Grill]

UFC has only PRIME athletes its the Mount Olympus of Sports worldwide. Ngannou did defeat a prime Cain already. Praise The Bald Father, he cannot lie.

 

[Neck&Neck]

Prime vs Prime it’s 50/50
Francis always has a punchers chance since he’s a Brawling Crotch Diver
Cayane has more ways to win and better endurance

 

[TheBulge]

I will give you one thing, Cain's extreme pressure and offensive orientated style leaves him open for hard counters.

When we look at the Prime Stipe vs Ngannou(Who was also prime but improved in technique later) fight, Stipe had a masterful performance but he still got hit, hurt and had very little room for error and he had a better chin than Cain. He had to lure Francis in and level change mid-defense with his excellent head movement, something Cain doesn't have.

That version of Stipe is also a larger and I believe stronger man than Cain which was essential for him to complete the takedowns against Ngannou and outbox him from mid to long range.

TLDR: Stipe imo is a more technical version of Cain and he beat Ngannou by points in a very dangerous fight, indicating Cain will be in a lot of danger in this matchup.

 

[Hank Grill]

Same happens for every fighter on Sherdog. You either win, or you are washed or were never any good to begin with.

Fedor wasn't washed until he tapped to Werdum at 32 years old. Then he was an old crippled man who should have retired years ago.

Now hold on you are forgetting he destroyed UFC superstar Fabio Maldonado after 32, and like I recall that wasn't a sketchy fight at all where Fedor was ko'd 5 times in one fight.