Something seems to have clicked lately with the UFC and its desperate need for more talent in the heavier divisions. They've brought in three new light heavyweights in the last month and now they've got a new heavyweight talent coming over from the well regarded French Crossfight camp. Ngannou's signing was announced via Facebook and reported on MMADeferlante.com. From the sound of it, the heavyweight is on a 4-fight deal and is expected to make his debut sometime in or around December of this year.
What you should expect:
He's raw. That's the first thing to know. The second thing is, at 6' 4" 250 lbs of pure fast twitch muscle Ngannou looks like the basic answer to the question of "What if you gave X NFL defensive end some sprawl training and some BJJ classes?" He's huge, strong as an ox, looks ridiculously fast and light on his feet, and has the basics of a developing MMA game. I've seen some video of him in no-gi grappling tourneys and he looks... huge and dynamic. As for actual ring craft goes, he mostly seems to square up in the pocket and sling leather at people. He's got power, the fact that he didn't get KO'd by Cisse suggests he's got a good chin, so now it's just about how much he can grow his technical game while fighting other big tough dudes.
To get us better acquainted, here's his recent bout against Luc Ngeleka:
