Francis Ngannou bested by Anthony Joshua at Saudi Arabia, praises opponent, reveals plans

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Ex-UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou was knocked out in the second round of his bout with Anthony Joshua at Saudi Arabia, but praised his opponent’s performance and revealed his plans for the future.

Ngannou was struck down thrice during the course of the match, with the third one being the last stroke.

Two things awaited the MMA superstar before the fight: a win would gets him opportunity to pursue the undisputed world heavyweight title, while a loss would increase the possibility of the Cameroonian’s bout with PFL’s heavyweight champion Renan Ferreira.

Ngannou has apologized to his fans for his loss via an X post.

‘Sorry guys I let you all down,’ he wrote. ‘Today was a bad day in the office but tomorrow will be another day. Thank you all for the love.’

The African had no excuse about his loss, however, he was unhappy about the turn of events.

‘That was a clean one,’ he said post-match. ‘In fact, I didn’t feel the punch. That’s what the knockout is about. I don’t feel any pain. That’s how I know I was knocked out … It was quite special because it stopped me.

‘It did what Tyson Fury couldn’t do. It wasn’t my day, and he’s just way better than me today. It sucks, but it’s the game, we all know that. It’s the game.’

One of the things fans would naturally be thinking about is what Ngannou’s plans were for the future. The 37-year old did not leave his intentions hidden in the slightest.

‘As for right now, I think I’m going to go home, get some rest, process what just happened,’ he said. ‘This has been a hell of a day, since this morning. I’ll process it and see what is the next step. But maybe MMA, but you can be sure that I’m not done here [in boxing]. Absolutely not. I’m not done.’

It seems that Ngannou entered the ring with the weight of expectations from fans and felt he failed them, but WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury’s comment after the fight did not include any atom of astonishment concerning the loss.

Pre-match conversations say mostly that the real surprise would be if Ngannou beat Joshua.

Even Joshua said after the match, ‘He’s a great fighter, he’s a dreamer, a risk taker, his story shouldn’t be clouded by tonight. He’s come a long way and he’s still got a long way to go.’