Francis said himself he turned down an $8m offer to fight Jones, Jones was ready.I think so and Jones would have never made his Heavyweight debut. That's just my opinion tho, ik some people think it's the other way around and that Ngannou ducked Jones lol.
He fought Blaydes and Gane of the current crop of HWs, but we now have Jones back in the mix, Aspinall, Volkov, Almeida, Pavlovich, and maybe an improved Blaydes too. The Gane decision win looks worse now given how Jones despatched him. Stipe was arguably past it even back then. Rozenstruik has turned out to be a bit meh. Lewis has shown that against the upper tier guys he struggles. Given all this, if Francis were to have remained in the UFC, would he still be holding the gold?
Imagine if Ngannou hadn't lost to Joshua in such an embarrasing way, but was still the dude who arguably beat Fury.
Things changes so fast.
It wasn't that embarrasing. He just got KTFO.
Most people still knows he'd KTFO Jones. Even Jones knows it.
Exactly. It wasnt just getting clipped. It was getting perfectly setup by AJ who then threw a punch with the most wind up I've ever seen at the high levels and then dropping ngannou with it.Not quite that simple tbh.
He didn't get randomly 1 punch KTFO in a competitive fight. He got decimated with ease - hurt with every clean punch Joshua landed, then absolutely obliterated by the big right hand killshot. It was effortless and brutal, and only took a few minutes.
Whether it's embarrassing or not depends on your perspective I guess. In one sense it was embarrassing, in another it's what was supposed to happen with an MMA fighter boxing an elite boxer.
He'd be sitting at home, waiting for his contract to expire, while no real fights get offered to him.He fought Blaydes and Gane of the current crop of HWs, but we now have Jones back in the mix, Aspinall, Volkov, Almeida, Pavlovich, and maybe an improved Blaydes too. The Gane decision win looks worse now given how Jones despatched him. Stipe was arguably past it even back then. Rozenstruik has turned out to be a bit meh. Lewis has shown that against the upper tier guys he struggles. Given all this, if Francis were to have remained in the UFC, would he still be holding the gold?
Francis got taken down by Gane.Gane was a harder matchup for Ngannou than Aspinall is or ever could be
You think Aspinall is a better offensive wrestler than Stipe or Blaydes who had all their TDs stuffed in the rematch vs Ngannou?
It would stay standing and Ngannou would touch Aspinall's chin the same way Pavlovich briefly did before he was KOd
I'm more concerned with how he bounces back after losing his kid than a trivial loss in another sport.I would not be surprised at all if he loses to Ferreira after what AJ did to him tbh. That was the kind of loss that a lot of people dont bounce back from. His aura was shattered and he got KTFO cold in such a way that it may be much easier to switch him off in future.
Before the AJ loss? he still would have had some tough challenges in the UFC now imo. Jon would have stayed ducking but Tom, Pav and potentially improved TDD Gane would have been legitimate threats. Bearing in mind Francis is 37 too so hes probably in decline.
Of course thats trauma is probably going to take a huge toll on his professional career too. Just wasnt particularly eager to bring up dead kids in a thread about combat sports.I'm more concerned with how he bounces back after losing his kid than a trivial loss in another sport.