Tom Aspinall vs. Francis Ngannou - Who wins?

[Prex32]

TA because of Francis' ring rust
otherwise tied

 

[BlackStrap]

The reason a lot of people are buying into Tom is that via the eye test he's passing with absolute flying colors. Yes the division is weak but of who is there, he's easily wrecked half the top 10. (And hasn't beaten Gane yet because Gane ducked him). And while Gane has had serious struggles (even outside his 2 losses) vs Tuivasa (almost was finished by him) and Volkov (was just gifted a decision)...Aspinall's only moment of vulnerability was a freak non-contact knee injury.

And one other thing--unlike Pavlovich when he was on his KO run...Aspinall isn't in there winging wild hooks and hoping one lands to end fights. He's throwing crisp straight counter shots or fast combos in the pocket. His punches get there quicker than any HW's are used to having to deal with. The KO's are organic, not forced by him being overly reckless.

Lol, consider me a cooked turkey. I can't argue with any of that. Fair on all points. The only push back I'll give is that both Gane and Tom ducked each other. They both claimed the other wasn't a worthy adversary when it was opportune to do so.

 

[mkess101]

Lol, consider me a cooked turkey. I can't argue with any of that. Fair on all points. The only push back I'll give is that both Gane and Tom ducked each other. They both claimed the other wasn't a worthy adversary when it was opportune to do so.

Fair. And maybe "ducking" is wrong and it's more rank squatting. The thing is, the guy that does it the second time is gonna get more leeway because his attitude is gonna be "You wouldn't fight me when you got offered before and were ranked higher, so F U now that I have the leverage and you want what I have."

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

Tom by TKO round 2.

 

[WOLVERINEKILLS]

Whoever stuns ir hurts the other first will win. Both are like sharks in blood infested water when an opponent is dazed or hurt.

2 questions I have are has Ngannou’s boxing experience changed how he will strike in MMA and how will his chin hold up after that brutal KO?

Ngannou may be a different fighter in a good or worse way upon his return, we do not know yet.

 

[Kwic]

This poll will be landslide. Sherdog has already declared Tom the greatest HW in history with the ability to beat prime Fedor, Cain and Ngannou in a single night.

All these are these interim belts? Judging by how stupid UFC is I say it's possible.

 

[rakeleaves]

This forum is seriously full of delusional UFC fanboys. Unless Francis has fallen off a cliff in the last year, he stuffs Toms takedowns and knocks him out. Aspinall has shown many defensive holes in his standup game, while Francis outboxed Tyson Fury and has the most 1 punch power in HW history. He`s also shown improved grappling and very solid TDD since the Stipe rematch. Apsinall has never shown grappling so dominant that we can expect him to takedown and or control Francis for multiple rounds, especially considering Tom`s gas tank is a huge question mark.

 

[ComfortablyNumb55]

Francis by KO.

Would love to see that fight.

 

[mkess101]

This forum is seriously full of delusional UFC fanboys. Unless Francis has fallen off a cliff in the last year, he stuffs Toms takedowns and knocks him out. Aspinall has shown many defensive holes in his standup game, while Francis outboxed Tyson Fury and has the most 1 punch power in HW history. He`s also shown improved grappling and very solid TDD since the Stipe rematch. Apsinall has never shown grappling so dominant that we can expect him to takedown and or control Francis for multiple rounds, especially considering Tom`s gas tank is a huge question mark.

Or we use our eyes and see the massive speed and athleticism difference. Especially now with Francis being almost 40.


But sure, tell yourself it's us being delusional.

 

[jeff7b9]

When Francis was still in the UFC I would have picked Francis, possibly over any HW that ever lived, Francis hits like that full power Ford escort baby, he had serious aggression and speed and a pretty good chin.

But...

Francis is turning 39 in September.

The Stipe fight was over 4 years ago.

Since then:

he had a knee surgery, right?
Because the knee was fucked up in the Cyril Gane fight.

He got sparked the fuck out by AJ.

and spent about 2 of those years focused on boxing.

Thus Tom, being younger, in his prime, and focused on MMA, still hungry and yet to secure "fuck you money"

Not to mention Tom is quite dangerous himself and has multiple routes to victory with his lifelong BJJ background.

 

[Like a fiddle]

Ngannou peaked when he took the title from Stipe. He had the explosive power and the takedown defense to terrify anyone. He hasn't looked the same since.

Since then it's been kneepads, wrestling, and shaving years off his life boxing Anthony Joshua

 

[JKS]

Aspinal wins this, likely the first to stop Francis by strikes. He's too fast, too precise, big power and he moves so well. We've seen Francis vs another HW who's good on his feet and agile in Gane and Francis couldn't land much, he lost the stand up.

 

[JKS]

This forum is seriously full of delusional UFC fanboys. Unless Francis has fallen off a cliff in the last year, he stuffs Toms takedowns and knocks him out. Aspinall has shown many defensive holes in his standup game, while Francis outboxed Tyson Fury and has the most 1 punch power in HW history. He`s also shown improved grappling and very solid TDD since the Stipe rematch. Apsinall has never shown grappling so dominant that we can expect him to takedown and or control Francis for multiple rounds, especially considering Tom`s gas tank is a huge question mark.

Wait a minute, you're gonna call out Aspinal for defensive holes. But ignore Francis getting his head bounced around like a basketball vs Stipe and then running chin first into a big shot in the rematch?? You're gonna ignore how ineffective Francis' power and stand up was vs Gane, another HW who's light on his feet and moves well, a fight that he nearly lost till the last minuets when Gane made a big dummy move in the grappling.

Francis has many defensive holes. Who bring up outboxing Fury, what happened to him vs Joshua. If you're gonna use one example in boxing, look at the other fight too.

 

[rakeleaves]

Wait a minute, you're gonna call out Aspinal for defensive holes. But ignore Francis getting his head bounced around like a basketball vs Stipe and then running chin first into a big shot in the rematch?? You're gonna ignore how ineffective Francis' power and stand up was vs Gane, another HW who's light on his feet and moves well, a fight that he nearly lost till the last minuets when Gane made a big dummy move in the grappling.

Francis has many defensive holes. Who bring up outboxing Fury, what happened to him vs Joshua. If you're gonna use one example in boxing, look at the other fight too.

Francis has an iron chin and nobody has been able to exploit his defensive holes (minus 1 punch from the UFC HW goat) over a larger sample size than whatever Aspinall has gone through.

I bring up the fight against Fury because it is literally unprecedented and highly relevant. So what if he got knocked out by Joshua? Any MMA hw would be. That doesn`t discount that Francis showed higher boxing ability than any MMA HW in history by arguably beating Fury. We all know Francis had a bum knee against Gane. Your arguments are laughably weak.

 

[rakeleaves]

Or we use our eyes and see the massive speed and athleticism difference. Especially now with Francis being almost 40.


But sure, tell yourself it's us being delusional.

There really isn`t a huge athleticism difference. Big Frank is a freak athelte with good speed for a guy so big. Francis has the better boxing on paper, way better power, and a better chin. The only thing that Aspinall has is a speed advantage.

Maybe you should have used your eyes when Francis outboxed Tyson Fury... Put Aspinall in there against Fury and let`s see how he does... lmao. He would get sparked inside 3 rounds.

 

[Mickey Mick]

I could see Tom win by submission. He’s got a crafty little sub game for a HW.

 

[mkess101]

There really isn`t a huge athleticism difference. Big Frank is a freak athelte with good speed for a guy so big. Francis has the better boxing on paper, way better power, and a better chin. The only thing that Aspinall has is a speed advantage.

Ngannou was a really athletic guy for his size. Was. He doesn't move the same anymore. I don't think he has better MMA boxing either. Hand speed is such a determining factor with small gloves and it's the main reason Aspinall is always hitting guys before they hit him. "Way better power" means...what? Who has Aspinall hit that he hasn't hurt? He's KO'ing everyone in rd 1. Ngannou almost surely hits harder but that's kind of irrelevant. You only need to hit hard enough to hurt your opponent which Aspinall does. Chin? Aspinall took a couple shots from a massive hitter in Pavlovich and ate them easy. No clue where you're just pulling this stuff from. Ngannou getting flatlined by Joshua won't help his chin either.

 

[rakeleaves]

Ngannou was a really athletic guy for his size. Was. He doesn't move the same anymore. I don't think he has better MMA boxing either. Hand speed is such a determining factor with small gloves and it's the main reason Aspinall is always hitting guys before they hit him. "Way better power" means...what? Who has Aspinall hit that he hasn't hurt? He's KO'ing everyone in rd 1. Ngannou almost surely hits harder but that's kind of irrelevant. You only need to hit hard enough to hurt your opponent which Aspinall does. Chin? Aspinall took a couple shots from a massive hitter in Pavlovich and ate them easy. No clue where you're just pulling this stuff from. Ngannou getting flatlined by Joshua won't help his chin either.

Honestly, if you don`t see how Francis has way bigger power than Aspinall and how that is relevant, you don`t know what you`re looking at. Aspinall has good power, but Francis rocks people by merely grazing them. He doesn`t even need to land clean. You honestly think a guy whose best standup win is vs Pavlovich has better MMA boxing than Francis... the guy who KOed almost every top HW put in front of him with ease and outboxed Tyson Fury. It doesn`t get any more wrong than that. Just look at how they both dealt with a past prime Arlovski: Frank starched him like he should have while Tom was given a tough fight. Frank has demonstrated an S tier chin throughout his career; if you`ve been following closely, you`d see that. Aspinall hasn`t faced anyone good enough to really test his outside of Pavlovich, so it`s more of an unknown factor.

 

[JKS]

Francis has an iron chin and nobody has been able to exploit his defensive holes (minus 1 punch from the UFC HW goat) over a larger sample size than whatever Aspinall has gone through.

I bring up the fight against Fury because it is literally unprecedented and highly relevant. So what if he got knocked out by Joshua? Any MMA hw would be. That doesn`t discount that Francis showed higher boxing ability than any MMA HW in history by arguably beating Fury. We all know Francis had a bum knee against Gane. Your arguments are laughably weak.

LOL no, no they'e not. You're arguments are one sided and delusional. Francis has an iron chin?? That is the dumbest argument to make, especially at HW to rely on their chin lol

Nice try kiddo, now run along.

 

[mkess101]

Honestly, if you don`t see how Francis has way bigger power than Aspinall and how that is relevant, you don`t know what you`re looking at. Aspinall has good power, but Francis rocks people by merely grazing them. He doesn`t even need to land clean. You honestly think a guy whose best standup win is vs Pavlovich has better MMA boxing than Francis... the guy who KOed almost every top HW put in front of him with ease and outboxed Tyson Fury. It doesn`t get any more wrong than that. Just look at how they both dealt with a past prime Arlovski: Frank starched him like he should have while Tom was given a tough fight. Frank has demonstrated an S tier chin throughout his career; if you`ve been following closely, you`d see that. Aspinall hasn`t faced anyone good enough to really test his outside of Pavlovich, so it`s more of an unknown factor.

Not sure what to tell you. I know exactly what I'm looking at. Francis stood and stared at Black Beast scared to engage and losing a decision, (want me to list all the guys who have KO'd Derrick?) so please don't try this tired tactic of cherry picking a fight and using it as some sort of defining thing. Tom's "tough fight" with Arlovski was Tom winning rd 1, then backing AA up to the cage rd 2 and teeing off until AA gift wrapped an easy TD and sub. Yeah..."tough fight". And that's the ONLY guy who's even made it to rd 2.

And again, we aren't talking about Ngannou circa 2017. Yes he's shown a good chin over his career but the ability to withstand damage deteriorates with age. And getting flatlined like he did vs Joshua speeds up that deterioration. Whether you want to admit it or not, 32 vs 39 and the amount of damage taken matters. If we were talking about current Aspinall vs the Ngannou that wrecked Overeem? I wouldn't be nearly as confident in Aspinall but that's a fight that can't happen.