Francis Ngannou admits that he wasn’t feeling quite right before stepping inside the ring with the WBC’s top-ranked heavyweight contender, Anthony Joshua.
On Friday (March 8) ‘The Predator’ returned to the squared circle five months removed from his critically acclaimed performance against undefeated heavyweight Tyson Fury in Riyadh. This time, he was tasked with taking on Joshua, a former two-time unified heavyweight champion. Things appeared to be going well in the opening moments of their ‘Knockout Chaos’ headliner, but things quickly turned when Ngannou hit the mat not once, but twice in the first two rounds.
Still recovering from his second knockdown, Ngannou answered the referee’s eight-count only to be met with a booming right hand that sent him crashing to the canvas unconscious with 22 seconds left in the second round.
It was a disappointing result for Ngannou, but looking back on the bout, the former UFC star revealed that he was feeling unusually sleepy while attempting to warm up for the fight.
“I remember being in the locker [room] trying to warm up, and I was feeling asleep,” Ngannou revealed in a video shared on social media. ” I’m sweating but I’m feeling asleep.”
Francis Ngannou reacts to his fight against Anthony Joshua on Instagram Live:
“I remember being in the locker [room] trying to warm up, and I was feeling asleep. I’m sweating but I’m feeling asleep.
No blame to anybody, all the blame here is just about me. It’s the game,… pic.twitter.com/b8bLF6ahH4
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) March 13, 2024
That could have something to do with the time difference, though Ngannou and his team traveled to Saudi Arabia with ample time to acclimate. Not to mention his fight with ‘The Gypsy King’ in October went down in the Middle Eastern kingdom.
But whatever the reason, Ngannou is not looking to offer any excuses for his lackluster performance.
“No blame to anybody, all the blame here is just about me,” Ngannou said. “It’s the game, walking into that. We all knew it could happen, I wasn’t seeing it happen like that but I always knew it could happen so I was always prepared for that.”
Francis Ngannou is Far From Done
Ngannou also made it clear that he is far from done and that he would take some time off before pursuing his next challenge.
“I just want to let you guys know that it’s not over yet,” Ngannou added. “We’re just getting started. The only thing we will miss here is time, and I think we have some good amount of time ahead of us. I’m gonna take some time for myself. Spend some time with my family and my friends and then come back ready. Get back to training and prepare for another challenge because that’s what we do. That’s why we’re here.”
In all likelihood, that next challenge will come in the form of the 2023 PFL heavyweight tournament winner Renan Ferreira. ‘Problema’ earned the opportunity to fight Ngannou in his promotional debut courtesy of a stunning 21-second KO of Bellator MMA champion Ryan Bader last month at the PFL vs. Bellator event inside Kingdom Arena.
