Ngannou back in the mix for UFC Title Fight
Fresh off his knockout victory over Jairzinho Rozenstruik at UFC 249, Cameroonian UFC heavyweight Francis Ngannou announced his desire to fight for the heavyweight championship.
The 15 win UFC fighter spoke to the media after his victory on Saturday and said about his fight
“I’m happy after 15 weeks of training and having an easy fight. So I put all the pain and all the suffering in the training camp and the fight went well. I walked in there, I was ready for a fifteen minutes fight obviously it came out to be a few seconds and I’m good with it.”
His opponent requested the fight and Ngannou obliged. “Without disrespect I hadn’t seen anything impressive from him and I thought he wasn’t ready yet for this level but he called me out and the UFC wanted this fight to happen. I couldn’t turn down the fight since I hadn’t fought in a very long time so i took the fight but I knew he wasn’t ready for this level but he just felt confident since he was on a win streak.”
As for where he stands right now in the UFC heavyweight championship mix and getting another shot at the title, Ngannou said, “That’s a tough question to answer. I don’t know exactly where is my position in the division right now. That’s how I’ve been feeling like in the past 11 months. Unfortunately after this fight it doesn’t solve things for me. I’m still in the same situation to not know what exactly is going on and what next. We’re gonna have some talks with the UFC and see what they say.”
Continuing on about the importance of the actual title and not merely fighting for an interim title, the pride of Batie, Cameroon said “At this point I don’t care about interim title. After the year I’ve had I’m supposed to fight for the title. They gave me one more fight and I fight. Then why would i go for the interim title. Where is the title? If they don’t have a title in the heavyweight division then they just have to say they don’t have a title and put someone up. I’m not fighting for some bullshit interim title.”
Talking about both heavyweights holding up the division, Stipe Miocic the champion and Daniel Cormier the former champ-champ, Ngannou said “I respect both of them. I have a huge respect for DC even as a person and I respect Stipe. I don’t want to think about that fight since it’s not happened because everything that it brings to me is just frustration. I would like to fight DC but I want a rematch against Stipe so bad. I would like to fight Stipe first and if DC decides to come back or to fight again then we will fight.”
UFC president Dana White went on record about the division when he said before Saturday’s fight that “The division has to move on for all the other people. We want to do that trilogy fight then you got the winner of Francis [Ngannou] and [Jairzinho] Rozenstruik waiting in the wings, too. People are waiting. It’s the right thing to do.”
Miocic has acknowledged the issue but said on social media about the fight hold up “I want to fight DC. It’s going to happen period,” Miocic said. “I’m going to give my fans what they want to see. My management has been working on dates with UFC. Right now I’m doing what Governor [Mike] DeWine is advising and am working as a first responder. I can’t control a global pandemic.
“My head coach can’t open his gym by law right now. I don’t hold myself higher than any other person in regards to what I’m allowed to do. Ohio is under orders until May 29th. The second the gym can open, we begin camp. Plain and simple. I have never ducked anyone.”
For now all Ngannou can do is wait for his second chance at the championship belt and focus on improving while making the continent of Africa and specifically his home country Cameroon, proud of his achievements. “It’s just great to see how you can provide happiness and how also they are proud of you and what you are doing. Obviously I fight for them but they are also there for me.” Ngannou said. “They are my strength and they are my motivation as well. So it’s win-win. It’s a good combination.”
