UFC Minneapolis: 5 greatest moments of Francis Ngannou’s career

Ahead of his main-event showdown with Junior Dos Santos, let’s take a look at the five greatest moments of Francis Ngannou’s career.

Francis Ngannou, despite being in the UFC for less than four years, has made an incredible impact in his limited time. Establishing himself as one of the most powerful punchers in the UFC early, Ngannou ran through the UFC’s heavyweight division to cement his place as a heavyweight contender. Despite coming up short against Stipe Miocic in his first title shot at UFC 220, a win over Junior Dos Santos at Minneapolis could potentially gain him that second UFC title shot.

Ngannou went from being homeless on the streets of France in 2012 and training MMA for free, to becoming a top UFC heavyweight only a few years later. While he’s only a few years into his career, he’s already made a devasting impact and seems destined to be a future UFC champion. His rise has been nothing short of remarkable, and it’s been amazing to watch.

With that being said, let’s take a look at Ngannou’s five greatest moments so far.

5. Ngannou’s UFC debut

Ngannou was a young, mostly unknown fighter when he signed with the UFC. Having only gone 5-1 in his short career, he was paired up with promotional newcomer Luis Henrique on the undercard of UFC Orlando. Having only started training MMA a mere three years prior to this fight, Ngannou opened as the underdog to the 8-1 Brazilian fighter and went into the event as the curtain-jerker fight on the prelims.

Somehow on Fight Pass prelims that saw future top welterweights Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards showdown, it was Ngannou who stole the show. Ngannou went out and destroyed his overmatched Brazilian opponent inside two rounds. Knocking him down multiple times before the eventual finish, Ngannou would go on to knockout Henrique with a brutal uppercut to close the show and pick up his first UFC victory.

Despite only being in his seventh pro fight, Ngannou showcased his power and skill that he would go on to be known for. It would just be the preview of things to come, but Ngannou put himself on the map with his debut knockout win, and to date, it is the fifth best moment in the young Cameroonian’s career.

4. Ngannou breaking into the top-10 against Arlovski

Having gone undefeated in his four previous UFC bouts, Ngannou was matched up with former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski as the opening main card bout for UFC Denver. Arlovski despite being out of his prime, was still not an easy out for anyone. Just that previous January, Arlovski was in a title-elimination bout against Stipe Miocic, where he was heading into that bout with a six-fight winning streak. Despite coming up short there, Arlovski was still a top heavyweight going into his fight with Ngannou.

The relatively unknown Ngannou was coming off a win over Anthony Hamilton the month previously and he saw his opportunity against Arlovski to break into the top-10, and he took it. Ngannou needed less than two minutes to finish the former champion. Landing an uppercut that took Arlovski off of his feet, and proceeding to finish him on the ground. Ngannou had made his announcement to the division that he was here, and that he was legit. Ngannou earned himself a spot in the rankings and a performance of the night bonus for his efforts against Arlovski.

Ngannou would use this win over the former champion to get a title-eliminator bout against Alistair Overeem that December. Whereas Arlovski would lose his next bout to Marcin Tybura, before going on a winning streak against Junior Albini and Stefan Struve. Proving that Arlovski’s MMA career will literally never end.

3. Main-eventing first ESPN card versus Velasquez

In May of 2018, the UFC announced a new TV deal partnership with ESPN to begin the following year. The deal was major for the UFC, as a deal with the worldwide leader in sports instantly puts the UFC in an excellent position for viewership, and would likely land them more profit than the previous deal with Fox. As a part of the UFC’s deal with ESPN, they would have 10 UFC ESPN events a year, the first one being slated for February 2019.  The headlining act for that show? Ngannou taking on former heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez.

Ngannou was coming off of a bounce-back victory over Curtis Blaydes in China the previous November. The former champion Velasquez hadn’t fought since UFC 200 in 2016, where he defeated Travis Browne inside of one round via stoppage. To add to this, Velasquez had only fought twice since 2014. Despite this inactivity, Velasquez was actually the favorite going into this main-event fight with Ngannou.

Eight years after Velasquez had main-evented the first Fox show, he main-evented the first ESPN show. Despite all of the hype around Velasquez’s return and him being the favorite, Ngannou was the one who would go on to be victorious that night. Ngannou would need all of 26 seconds to dispose of the former champion, knocking him down with an uppercut as he shot for a takedown, and finishing the fight with some brutal ground and pound. Ngannou put himself on the short-list of title contenders following his win over Velasquez.

2. Ngannou defeats Blaydes in China

In April of 2016, Ngannou and Curtis Blaydes squared off in Croatia. Nobody knew it at the time, but those watching were watching the future of the heavyweight division, and in a battle of prospects, Ngannou came out on top. Ngannou knocked Blaydes down multiple times en route to a doctor’s stoppage victory after the second round. The loss was Blaydes first of his career and was just the second UFC victory for Ngannou.

Flashforward over two years later and Blaydes is undefeated since that loss, having defeated legends such as Mark Hunt and Alistair Overeem along the way, Blaydes was looking like a potential future champion. Ngannou, on the other hand, was suffering from a recent losing streak, having lost two fights in a row. Losing in a stinker to Derrick Lewis, and getting dominated by champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 220 in his first shot at UFC gold. Not long after his loss to Lewis, Ngannou was booked for a rematch against Blaydes in China.

With his back against the wall, and facing one of the best heavyweights in the division, Ngannou showed up. Ngannou started early by knocking Blaydes down with a big right hand, and never let up the pressure. Only 45 seconds into the bout and it was called off, a first-round stoppage win for Francis Ngannou. With all of the pressure in the world on his shoulders, Ngannou responded with a statement win.

1. Ngannou’s knockout of Overeem

Coming off of his knockout victory over Arlovski in January 2017, Ngannou cemented his place as a top UFC heavyweight. He was then placed in a contender bout against Junior Dos Santos at UFC 215, however, that bout would fall through. He was instead put in a No. 1 contender bout against former title challenger Alistair Overeem at UFC 218. Overeem himself was coming off of back to back wins after his championship loss to Stipe Miocic at UFC 203.

In the highest profile fight of his career, Ngannou had one of the most incredible knockouts in UFC history. After Overeem failed to clinch and take the fight to the ground, the two began trading on the feet. From there, it was only a matter of time. Ngannou landed a horrific uppercut that snapped Overeem’s head back, and he was out cold, falling backward onto the canvas unconscious. It took Ngannou less than two minutes to dispose of the former Strikeforce champion.

The knockout victory over Overeem landed Ngannou the first title shot of his career against Stipe Miocic at UFC 220. The knockout also earned multiple ‘Knockout of the Year’ honors from multiple media outlets and has gone down as one of the most ruthless knockouts in MMA history. You can watch that knockout right here, as it’s the UFC’s free fight for UFC Minneapolis. 

UFC Minneapolis takes place on Saturday, June 29, 2019, live from the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN. Follow along with FanSided MMA for all your live results and highlights throughout the week.