Francis Ngannou (born September 5, 1986) is a Cameroonian-French professional mixed martial artist competing in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was ranked the No. 1 contender by UFC and ESPN as of December 17, 2017.
He currently holds the record for highest punching power ever measured by the UFC, at 129,161 units. He broke the previous record set by kickboxing champ Tyrone Spong which was at 114,000 units.
Video Francis Ngannou
Background
Ngannou was born and raised in the village of Batié, Cameroon. Ngannou lived in poverty and had little formal education growing up. At 12 years old, Ngannou started working in a sand quarry in Batié because of a lack of funds. As a youngster, he was approached by various gangs in his village to join them. However, Ngannou refused and instead decided to use his father's bad reputation as a street fighter as motivation to do something positive and pursue boxing.
At the age of 22, Ngannou began training in boxing, despite reluctance from his family in the beginning. After training for a year, Ngannou stopped training due to an illness. He did various odd jobs to make ends meet, until at the age of 26, he emigrated to Paris, France to pursue professional boxing. After Ngannou reached Paris, he had no money, no friends and no place to live. After living homeless on the streets of Paris, he began training for free in August 2013 under Fernand Lopez Owonyebe at the MMA Factory. Being a fan of Mike Tyson, Ngannou was originally interested in learning how to box until his coach introduced him to the sport of MMA.
Reflecting on his journey across continents and his decision to become an MMA fighter, Ngannou said:
When I started, I had nothing. Nothing. I needed everything. But when you start [to earn money], you starting collecting things: I want this, I want this, I want that. The purpose is not collecting things, though. The purpose is to do something great. Finish the dream you started.
I want to help my family, first, of course, but then I want to give opportunity to children in my country like me who have a dream to become a doctor or something. If I reach my dream, it will give me the opportunity to help those in my country who have their own dreams and nothing else to fulfill them.
I want to give some opportunity for children like me who dream of this sport and don't have an opportunity like me. The last time I was in Cameroon, I brought a lot of materials for boxing and MMA to open a gym. Now I just bought a big space to start the gym, as well. A lot of children now in Cameroon, because of me, they have a dream. They say, 'I will be a champion in MMA. I will do boxing like Francis,' because they saw me when I was young. I didn't have anything. I didn't have any opportunity. And today, they see me, and they are dreaming. They are thinking that something is possible. Even when they are so poor, something is possible in life. ... It's not easy. It's so hard, but it's possible.
Maps Francis Ngannou
Mixed martial arts career
Ngannou started his MMA career mostly fighting in the French promotion 100% Fight, as well as other regional promotions in Europe.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Ngannou made his promotional debut against fellow newcomer Luis Henrique on December 19, 2015 at UFC on Fox 17. He won the fight via knockout in the second round. Ngannou next faced promotional newcomer Curtis Blaydes on April 10, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 86. He won the fight via TKO at the conclusion of the second round. In his next bout, Ngannou faced another newcomer in Bojan Mihajlovi? on July 23, 2016, at UFC on Fox 20. He won the fight via TKO in the first round. Ngannou faced Anthony Hamilton on December 9, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 102. He won the fight by submission in the first round, and earned his first UFC Performance of the Night bonus.
Ngannou faced Andrei Arlovski on January 28, 2017, at UFC on Fox 23. He won the fight via TKO in the first round. The win also earned Ngannou his second Performance of the Night bonus. Ngannou was expected to face Junior dos Santos on September 9, 2017 at UFC 215. However, on August 18, Dos Santos was pulled from the match after being notified of a potential USADA violation. In turn, Ngannou was removed from the card after promotion officials deemed that a suitable opponent could not be arranged. In the highest profile fight of his career, Ngannou faced Alistair Overeem on December 2, 2017 at UFC 218. He won the fight via knockout in the first round.
Ngannou fought Stipe Miocic for the UFC Heavyweight title on January 20, 2018 at UFC 220. Miocic dominated Ngannou for five rounds, winning by unanimous decision.
Championships and accomplishments
- Ultimate Fighting Championship
- Performance of the Night (Two times) vs. Anthony Hamilton, vs. Andrei Arlovski
- Bleacher Report
- 2017 Knockout of the Year vs. Alistair Overeem
- ESPN
- 2017 Knockout of the Year vs. Alistair Overeem
- Pundit Arena
- 2017 Knockout of the Year vs. Alistair Overeem
- MMA Fighting / SB Nation
- 2017 Knockout of the Year vs. Alistair Overeem
- 2017 Breakthrough Fighter of the Year
- MMAjunkie.com Knockout of the Year vs. Alistair Overeem
Mixed martial arts record
See also
- List of current UFC fighters
- List of male mixed martial artists
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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