- Daniel Cormier heaped praise on Francis Ngannou after his successful PFL debut
- Israel Adesanya considers “The Predator” as MMA’s heavyweight GOAT
Daniel Cormier and Israel Adesanya were convinced that Francis Ngannou proved that he is the best heavyweight fighter in the world with his KO victory over Renan Ferreira.
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DC was rooting for Francis
Ngannou pulled off a successful MMA return and PFL debut by securing a first-round knockout win over Ferreira at PFL Super Fights. Speaking on his YouTube channel, DC raved about how impressive “The Predator” was, considering he has been dealing with a lot of emotional issues heading into the fight.
“I’m in my house screaming because I wanted Francis Ngannou to win, the world wanted Francis Ngannou to win because of everything that he’s going to and then a guy like going through those personal things, losing something as precious as a child, if you weren’t rooting for him in the beginning, as a human being you’re rooting for him in there. So sometimes it works you get the happy ending,” Cormier said.
For Cormier, Ferreira wasn’t on Jon Jones or Tom Aspinall’s level but Ngannou’s performance was enough to remind everybody that he is arguably the best heavyweight in the world today.
“I don’t know if you can compare Renan to those guys; he has too many holes in his game. But when you watch Francis- what he did tonight, he does to all those guys he fought before if he doesn’t do it in more impressive fashion. So, I can’t say that he isn’t one of the best heavyweights in the world, because what did we see that showed slippage? What did we see that told us Francis Ngannou isn’t the guy he was when he left in 2022, when he was the UFC heavyweight champion?,” Cormier pointed out.
“For my money, Aspinall, Francis, Jones-those guys all live in a bubble. I don’t think that you can separate one from the other, because he has not been competing in mixed martial arts. I think tonight, Francis Ngannou cemented himself as still one of the greatest heavyweights in the world, if not the best heavyweight fighter in the world right now, by doing what he did,” he continued.
Izzy echoed the same thing
Adesanya also tuned in on Ngannou’s PFL debut. Like Cormier, “The Last Stylebender” was also amazed by how the former UFC heavyweight champion maintained his form after everything he has gone through since parting ways with the UFC.
Izzy then concluded that Ngannou has already replaced Miocic as the greatest heavyweight fighter of all time. However, Adesanya also noted that it still depends on how people see it, especially now that Jones is still the heavyweight champ with Aspinall also presenting a strong case.
“That was beautiful,” Adesanya said of Ngannou’s win. “I feel that man. That’s for Kobe… Y’all must have forgot bro… Flawless, that was a beautiful performance. He took one leg kick and dodged the flurry, timed his right hand and shot for a double, kept him there and knocked him out.”
“I’m proud, inspired, and just happy to watch him do his thing. He’s gone through so much in his career, even still after the whole boxing thing. People doubted him… People are prisoners of the moment, but they forget who this man is… I’m glad he reminded everybody why he’s the best, why he’s the one, why he’s Francis Ngannou,” he added.
“Right now, people still hold Stipe as the greatest of all time in the heavyweight division, I think he’s one of the greatest. He beat Francis but then Francis beat him in the worst way. It’s all subjective, it’s all art, it’s all [about] who you like. I think that Francis is the greatest heavyweight of all time but again, now that Jon Jones is the heavyweight champion, he’s only fought once… Tom Aspinall’s in the f**king mix [too] and he’s only just getting his ball rolling,” he explained.
Ngannou has not fought since 2022 but his win over Ferreira saw him picking up where he left off in MMA. As it stands, “The Predator” has now gone unbeaten in seven consecutive MMA fights.
