What is Ngnnou's legacy in MMA for you?

Another "could have been" was a champ but gave it up to chase boxing dreams.
 
he has no legacy. he won a title in a rematch and never gave a trilogy fight. he earned his way to that title by beating other one dimensional fighters in the weakest division in UFC HW history, and its not even arguable. then he bounced for money. i dont hate on anyone for that but when talking legacy its gonna get mentioned. his lasting legacy was a jon jones fight and a stipe rematch. he blew it due to seeking financial security. understandable. now if he knocks out fury then this all changes. but.....if he loses he will be forgotten even faster. and then on to his next venture in PFL. with a 2 year lay off and currently at 37 years of age...... legacy/MMA wise this was not a smart move for francis. finacially it was brilliant.
 
His legacy will likely end up being a lofty one, for me. Dude has the audacity to be the UFC HW champ, and try his options when time to re-sign? He Ric Flair'd the shit out of the UFC, told them, "I'll just leave on top and sign with a competitor," and did it. Granted, Flair was back with WCW like less than two years later, but we all know that probably isn't happening here. Frank bit the hand that fed him, and ended up with a bigger plate. I admire the shit out of him for standing his ground and never caving to the UFC, and especially after it worked out for him about as best as could be expected (barring a KO vs Fury, but we don't honestly believe that will happen).

As an actual fighter, he was the HW champ/fighter that all feared, he will literally make you leave your feet he will hit you so hard. If it only takes one from most anyone at HW, he's got higher potential for that one than most anyone else. He was kinda like Rumble, in that regard. The opponent knows the score before the fight, will do his best to avoid it, but one of those punches is going to land, and, when it does, it will teach you a lot about yourself, one way or another.

Nothing but respect for Francis Ngannou, the fighter and the man.
 
He had a good story and defended the belt once but all I can think of is that he sacrificied what could've been a legendary career for greed.
 
Honestly, very one dimensional fighter that relied on one thing. Not that it didnt work well but we're talking legacy here. To me, he has about the same legacy as Lesnar.
 
You're gunna get some goofy people why try and say something to the affect of 'not that great' or some weird shit. Lol. He's literally the most exciting heavy weight fighter since Fedor and I'm not even a Fedor mark like that. There was a legit 99.999999999 chance he was going to flat line someone. Like literally flatline. Not tko. KO. Everyone loved it.
 
JanssenC said:
Honestly, very one dimensional fighter that relied on one thing. Not that it didnt work well but we're talking legacy here. To me, he has about the same legacy as Lesnar.
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So compare the two isn't even logical. Cain literally beat Brock leaner is to not mattering anymore.
 
JanssenC said:
Honestly, very one dimensional fighter that relied on one thing. Not that it didnt work well but we're talking legacy here. To me, he has about the same legacy as Lesnar.
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To be fair though you could argue he did have unique skill to him, I think its possible for example that peak Ngannou would do better in the HW scene of the mid 00's than peak Stipe would as the latter tended to focus mostly on exploiting opponents weaknesses were as Francis was a freakishly fast and powerful guy.

I think peak Francis for example would be a more dangerous opponent for mid 00's Fedor than Stipe would be.
 
JustOnce said:
All in all, I think Ngannou's legacy as a fighter is, a fighter who was a great, albeit one dimensional, HW fighter who had a terrific career in UFC, but who overplayed his hand for greater perceived financial gain. No more or no less. Just wonder what Sherbros think.

What is Ngannou's legacy in MMA in your eyes?
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He is a guy born is extreme poverty who dreamed of becoming a boxer like Mike Tyson, risked his life crossing the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean sea for that dream, and now is about to fight the best HW boxer of his generation while being coached by Mike Tyson.
Oh and he became UFC champion on the way to that and was the first to successfully challenge the UFC contract practice, and leave as a free agent and undisputed champion.

He is not boxing for a number on a paycheck, it was his goal since day 1.
 
spinup said:
He is a guy born is extreme poverty who dreamed of becoming a boxer like Mike Tyson, risked his life crossing the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean sea for that dream, and now is about to fight the best HW boxer of his generation while being coached by Mike Tyson.
Oh and he became UFC champion on the way to that and was the first to successfully challenge the UFC contract practice, and leave as a free agent and undisputed champion.

He is not boxing for a number on a paycheck, it was his goal since day 1.
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It does sound like a movie put that way. Like someone said though, might have been ruined by sheer greed. Vastly different take, but both well put, you could say.

Spam On Rye said:
He had a good story and defended the belt once but all I can think of is that he sacrificied what could've been a legendary career for greed.
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I guess Sherbros are pretty split on both ends of the spectrum when it comes to Ngannou.

I can't deny that he had very movie-esque story.

But I also think he got too greedy, nor was he ever nor will he be considered a legend.

The question really becomes, will he actually make more money after leaving UFC? We will find out I guess. He sure will take much severe beating for it if he does and he could've had the one of the greatest MMA legacies had he stayed.

All in all, I still think he would've been better off staying. He would've taken very little damage throughout, and he would've made comparable money, I'd think based on what we know.
 
JustOnce said:
It does sound like a movie put that way. Like someone said though, might have been ruined by sheer greed. Vastly different take, but both well put, you could say.
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It's understandable that people think he is just another MMA fighter looking for a paycheck. But in his case, it is well documented that he came to Europe to be a boxer when he did not even know what MMA was. He first went to a boxing gym, where he trained for a while and the coaches told him that MMA was the way to make money faster (because professional boxing in France sucks).

For the story: that coach he went to when he was homeless in Paris is now his main boxing coach for the Fury fight.
 
spinup said:
It's understandable that people think he is just another MMA fighter looking for a paycheck. But in his case, it is well documented that he came to Europe to be a boxer when he did not even know what MMA was. He first went to a boxing gym, where he trained for a while and the coaches told him that MMA was the way to make money faster (because professional boxing in France sucks).

For the story: that coach he went to when he was homeless in Paris is now his main boxing coach for the Fury fight.
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He is.

Ngannou is literally shitting on boxing itself while promoting this fight. I really doubt his motivation is as lofty as you make it out to be.
 
lmao btw Teddy Atlas thinks Ngannou's jab is key

goodfellas-henry-hill.gif
 
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