Francis Ngannou did something incredible when he knocked out Stipe Miocic over the weekend to become the UFC heavyweight champion. Brendan Schaub offered some high praise for the new champ, and even favors him in a bout against Jon Jones.
For years, Schaub competed in the heavyweight division, taking on some of the most intimidating fighters in the world. However there are perhaps none more terrifying than the newly crowned champ, Ngannou.
The French-Cameroonian fighter took on arguably the greatest heavyweight in UFC history, when he squared up against Stipe Miocic in a rematch at UFC 260. This bout saw Francis making massive improvements, to knock out Stipe in the second round to score the title.
Francis Ngannou Is The Scariest Heavyweight Ever
This performance from Francis Ngannou impressed virtually everyone watching, including Brendan Schaub. In fact, he broke down this performance on a recent episode of his podcast.
Here, the retired fighter turned comedian broke down how Francis answered all of the lingering questions about his improvements since the first fight with Stipe. On top of that, he explained that he sees Ngannou as the scariest heavyweight in the promotion’s history.
“You look at Francis, is he better or is he the same fighter? Is he going to get taken down? What version of Francis are we getting? Did he learn from that first fight? And this is what’s great about fighting, nobody really f—king knows until the cage is locked and they fight, nobody knows,” Schaub said.
“What do we know now? We know Francis is a better fighter. The evidence of him being more composed, educated, higher IQ, not just relying on one big heavy punch, he’s a changed fighter. He’s grown into being a world champion. There you go. Questions were answered, and it’s f—king terrifying.
“A calm, collected Francis is the scariest heavyweight of all time,” Schaub continued. “In history, I used to always say that a juiced up Uberreem (Alistair Overeem) was the scariest of all time. I take that back, I think Francis is.
“We know he’s not juicing, we know USADA tests him like every f—king Tuesday, we know his background… We know his takedown defense is better. Stipe had a great chance to get him down and could not get him down… Francis looked f—king phenomenal, the scariest heavyweight of all time.”
Brendan Schaub Thinks Ngannou Can Beat Jon Jones
All signs are pointing to the idea that Francis Ngannou will be taking on Jon Jones in his next fight. That said, Brendan Schaub is not convinced that this is an easy fight for the essentially undefeated former light heavyweight champion.
While Brendan recognizes the skill that Jon has, he feels like the last few years have seen a steep decline in his performances. So he says that if Jon does not show up at his absolute best, he will suffer the same fate as Stipe Miocic.
“You guys know, to me Jon’s the greatest of all time, no matter what his history says, USADA and all that s—t. He’s the greatest of all time, he’s the best we’ve ever had. But I can’t confidently say that he can beat Francis,” Schaub said.
“If Jon Jones comes out with the same attitude as when he fought (Ovince Saint Preux), that fought Anthony Smith, the same Jon that fought Thiago Santos, the same Jon that fought Dominick Reyes, he will get knocked out. If the same version of Jon that has came out since 2016, the last five years, comes out and fights like that against Francis, he gets knocked out.”
Schaub goes on to explain that he thinks that Jon was not motivated for those last several fights, and that is why he had those lackluster wins. So he speculates whether or not Jones is falling to age, or is still at the top of his game.
With that in mind, Brendan thinks that there is still a chance for Jon to pull away with the victory. He just can not make any mistakes against someone so devastating as Francis Ngannou.
“He has the proper skillset to beat Francis, but if he’s not a ten out of ten Jon, he gets knocked the f—k out. That’s how scary Francis is. And we’re going to find out how good Francis’s wrestling is, guarantee you that. Guarantee you Jon gets him down. I will guarantee you that,” Schaub said.
https://youtu.be/4a3pv06MyuU?t=1170
What do you make of this assessment from Brendan Schaub? Who do you see winning between Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones, should that fight come together?
