Daniel Cormier shared his reaction to Anthony Joshua knocking out Francis Ngannou in their recent boxing match.
Last Friday represented the latest chapter in Ngannou’s professional boxing journey. Following his legendary performance against Tyson Fury, the former UFC heavyweight champion faced ‘AJ’ in a ten-round boxing match inside the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ngannou failed to replicate the success he found against Fury. Joshua secured two knockdowns in the second round against ‘The Predator,’ with the latter leaving the fan-favorite unconscious to end the fight.
During an episode of ESPN’s Good Guy / Bad Guy, Daniel Cormier had this to say about Joshua vs. Ngannou:
“Francis Ngannou got flatlined last weekend, Chael [Sonnen]. That was as bad of a knockout as I’ve seen…Joshua did what Joshua should have done. It sucked, for me it absolutely sucked to see a guy I consider a friend go out like that, but it felt like Anthony Joshua went out there to put the world back right in terms of boxing.”
Watch Joshua’s vicious knockout against Ngannou below:
Every knockdown Anthony Joshua landed against Francis Ngannou
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Daniel Cormier compares Randy Couture submitting James Toney to Anthony Joshua knocking out Francis Ngannou
In August 2010, former world champion boxer James Toney historically fought Randy Couture at UFC 118. Toney’s confidence in MMA was shut down quickly as Couture took him down and secured a first-round submission.
During the previously mentioned podcast, Daniel Cormier compared Couture’s win against Toney to Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou:
“Randy Couture went out there and he submitted James Toney because he was like, there is no way these guys are going to feel like they can come over here and compete. Anthony Joshua did that to Francis Ngannou.”
Cormier continued by reminding his viewers of Ngannou’s financial success for his two professional boxing bouts:
“On the flip side, Francis Ngannou has made $30 million in fights, so he has done well in that regard. Yes, it absolutely sucked for me.”
It’s unclear what’s next for Francis Ngannou. The former UFC heavyweight champion was expected to make his PFL debut against Renan Ferreira in a few months. With that said, ‘The Predator’ may need more time to recover from the devastating knockout suffered last week.
Watch the latest episode of Good Guy / Bad Guy below:
