Francis went to boxing, returns to MMA

[FilipEmoFights]

And in his return showed the most versatile he has ever looked in his whole career. Seriously, that was a grappler who attacked and knew what he was trying to do. He even defended a beautiful triangle sub attempt which I know we have never seen Francis anywhere close to that situation before, against a BJJ black belt, and then with one opening and a couple shots just ends the whole fight

There are two ways to interpret this, and either way Francis looked good but

He either purposely wanted to show his MMA game in this fight because he’s a Heavyweight Champion fighter and although lost in Boxing badly, still showed his ability to be a complete fighter and that ko loss won’t hold him back. It just felt different not like old Francis who just ran forward and knocked dudes out
The other way to interpret that is he purposely fought with that heavy grappling style (just one takedown lol) but for him that’s different, and he did it in order to not risk taking much damage, or because he was concerned with how his chin could react. Either way a defensively minded fighter is good for them. I just hope his chin isn’t cracked. I’m happy for him.

 

[Bobby Boulders]

I suspected that he wouldn't necessarily want to trade with Ferreira, as that is just a big man who has proven he can touch an opponent and put them down, and who knows what's up with Frank's chin after the Joshua KO. That shot he took was as nasty as they get.

I don't think it's a bad look that he wrestled. It was a much safer avenue and smarter way of going about the fight. He looked like he should have, as the lineal champion of MMA.

 

[Tweak896]

The question is, who else is there in the PFL for Ngannou to fight next? Bader? I can't even think of anyone his level of competition.

 

[colorles]

Ngannou was never a terrible wrestler though. He has submission victories on his record from earlier in his career, and the only person to take him down and control him was Miocic (who was stronger and closer to his prime in their first fight). And those were perfectly timed takedowns by Miocic against an Ngannou that was fighting recklessly. But, by all accounts his take down defense has always been good.

With that said the wrestling beating he took against Miocic must have motivated him to improve his wrestling further. Other fighters like Tuivasa should take notes

 

[Ibm]

he beats Aspionall

 

[skylolow]

Looked great............now the only question is what is next in MMA for him?????

PFL better do everything they can to get the word out on how much money Ferreira got paid if it truly is multi millions. Then pray some HW with some draw from some other org comes available and comes knocking in the next six months.

 

[Zanmato]

He looked good but let's be real, he was up against a limited opponent (that triangle was not that close and applied in the worst part of the cage to have a chance at being successful) and now has no one there left to fight there that is interesting. Leaves him in a tough spot promotionally unless he wants to go on a 'bum of the month club' run, but I enjoyed seeing him get a win back and I'm sure he doesn't need that much more money so the lack of onward promotional hype is not his issue

 

[KamalaForever]

He look very fantsastic. And I bet he will win all his next fights too, much to the surprise of Dana.