Anyone else think Francis will come back as a shell of himself?

[PlasticFishBowl]

This isn’t meant to be a hater thread. I like big Frank and would love nothing more than to see him return and starch Jon Jones.

But when I think rationally, I see a lot of reason to doubt Francis.

1.) Big guy coming off major knee surgery is a recipe for disaster. It’s made even worse by the fact that Francis is a guy who relies almost solely on explosive power. If that goes, even just a little, then he becomes a significantly worse fighter immediately.

2.) He’s about to turn 36. He hasn’t been very active lately (for obvious reasons) and has spent most of his time trying to get a super fight against Fury. He doesn’t even seem to be focused on his UFC return. All of these things, again, are hallmarks of champs who show big decline their next time out.

3.) Look at his Instagram. He actually looks kinda fat. First time I’ve ever seen him not look carved from granite.

 

[WHITEBELT JESUS]

No, his mgmt team will land him a huge payday in boxing and we will see TRT/EPO Ngannou in his prime.

 

[DemonSlayer]

He’s gotten better with every fight since he lost to Stipe, don’t see why that would change. He’s not really a hype kind of guy, he’s always mellow and soft spoken. Even his last few wins where he showed he can execute real MMA gameplans, he was controlled and methodical, doesn't jump on top of the cage when he wins, doesn’t run around screaming.

 

[Herwald]

Or maybe he's bean dealing with injuries for a while, finally has some dough to fix himself up and will come back even better.

 

[ultra321]

This isn’t meant to be a hater thread. I like big Frank and would love nothing more than to see him return and starch Jon Jones.

But when I think rationally, I see a lot of reason to doubt Francis.

1.) Big guy coming off major knee surgery is a recipe for disaster. It’s made even worse by the fact that Francis is a guy who relies almost solely on explosive power. If that goes, even just a little, then he becomes a significantly worse fighter immediately.

2.) He’s about to turn 36. He hasn’t been very active lately (for obvious reasons) and has spent most of his time trying to get a super fight against Fury. He doesn’t even seem to be focused on his UFC return. All of these things, again, are hallmarks of champs who show big decline their next time out.

3.) Look at his Instagram. He actually looks kinda fat. First time I’ve ever seen him not look carved from granite.

I agree with points 1 & 2...
and will add that knee looks like it was done in a meat packing plant....

 

[Eric Silva 2.0]

This isn’t meant to be a hater thread. I like big Frank and would love nothing more than to see him return and starch Jon Jones.

But when I think rationally, I see a lot of reason to doubt Francis.

1.) Big guy coming off major knee surgery is a recipe for disaster. It’s made even worse by the fact that Francis is a guy who relies almost solely on explosive power. If that goes, even just a little, then he becomes a significantly worse fighter immediately.

2.) He’s about to turn 36. He hasn’t been very active lately (for obvious reasons) and has spent most of his time trying to get a super fight against Fury. He doesn’t even seem to be focused on his UFC return. All of these things, again, are hallmarks of champs who show big decline their next time out.

3.) Look at his Instagram. He actually looks kinda fat. First time I’ve ever seen him not look carved from granite.

I expect him to be the best Ngannou we've ever seen.

 

[Adebisi]

Medical science is good enough nowadays to get him back close to where he was from a physical standpoint.

It’ll depend on his work ethic and commitment to MMA. If he’s checked out and only thinking about 1 last payday against Fury, then no, I don’t expect him to be back to where he was.

 

[RockyLockridge]

I have no reason to believe he wont be the same ol Francis.

 

[Fergelmince]

I hope he doesn't come back. He'll send a message to other fighters who have options outside the UFC and break them out of their Stockholm syndrome.

 

[Poirierfan]

Well, he'll definitely be better than the Gane fight where he had one working knee, and he still won.

 

[Pizza Werewolf]

I heard the real reason he was getting knee surgery was because he wanted to be able to do this

 

[Natural Order]

I think he's going to run with the gameplan he used against Gane for the rest of his career and turn into a sleeping blanket.

Wait for it.

 

[TempleoftheDog]

I don’t think Ngannou comes back at all, and good riddance. Active champ, my ass.

 

[Kwic]

If he does Jones will definitely fight him.

 

[NoSmilez]

I don't think he is coming back.

 

[textwarrior]

This isn’t meant to be a hater thread. I like big Frank and would love nothing more than to see him return and starch Jon Jones.

But when I think rationally, I see a lot of reason to doubt Francis.

1.) Big guy coming off major knee surgery is a recipe for disaster. It’s made even worse by the fact that Francis is a guy who relies almost solely on explosive power. If that goes, even just a little, then he becomes a significantly worse fighter immediately.

2.) He’s about to turn 36. He hasn’t been very active lately (for obvious reasons) and has spent most of his time trying to get a super fight against Fury. He doesn’t even seem to be focused on his UFC return. All of these things, again, are hallmarks of champs who show big decline their next time out.

3.) Look at his Instagram. He actually looks kinda fat. First time I’ve ever seen him not look carved from granite.

He is up there in age but over time he has developed as a better fighter so far.

 

[BoxerMaurits]

2.) He’s about to turn 36. He hasn’t been very active lately (for obvious reasons) and has spent most of his time trying to get a super fight against Fury. He doesn’t even seem to be focused on his UFC return. All of these things, again, are hallmarks of champs who show big decline their next time out.

Yeah he’s not the youngest anymore, but Big Frank doesn’t have a lot mileage on him aswell.
I expect him to do fine

 

[spinup]

I don’t think Ngannou comes back at all, and good riddance. Active champ, my ass.

Yeah let's look at other champs who would be so much more active:

Stipe hasn't fought since March 2021, no disclosed injury
Jones hasn't fought since February 2020, no disclosed injury
Gane hasn't fought since January 2022 (while not injured), no disclosed injury
DC is retired and fought once a year.

But sure, let's shit on the guy who didn't pull out of a title defense despite a serious ACL and MCL injury, and has been on rehab since.

 

[spinup]

Comeback after knee stuff is always a bit a russian roulette game but There are some postive factors as well.

Ngannou has good genetic and naturally strong legs, which can compensate weak ligaments to stabilize the knee.

He is 35 but spent such short time in the cage he has taken virtually no damage

He has been taken care off by the best surgeon and physio, had stem cells injections, and fancy therapimy machines on earth.

 

[AbominableJoman]

Franny is done confirmed