Francis Ngannou Gives Reason For Latest Loss: ‘They do this kind of trick to get you tired’

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Cameroonian MMA superstar Francis Ngannou disclosed what might be one of the possible reasons for his loss against Anthony Joshua. He revealed surprising happenings that took place before the fight which he assumed were knowingly used to make him tired.

Ngannou did not last more than two rounds in the fight — brutally knocked down twice before losing consciousness at the third. This was surprising to many who watched him against the arguably-best world heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, in December.

Though many summarized he was the lesser skilled of the two and that he showed lack of experience during the bout, Ngannou’s recent statement to The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani might affect perspectives a lot.

‘The only thing that bothers me is I was never in that fight, it was weird,’ Ngannou said at the interview.

‘It was a weird day, a weird evening, I was tired, I was in the locker room for four hours, four-and-a-half, waiting, and then, even when warming up, I was sweating, but still getting tired, and I told, I even told Eric, I was like “Bro, this is not- this is weird, like, I’m sweating, but I feel like I’m asleep.”

‘And even the fight, when the fight started, I was never there.’

Later during the discussion, Ngannou said what he thought caused all the wierd tiredness.

‘Listen, I think we both fight at 3 a.m. It’s not like I fought at 3 a.m. and he fought at like midnight or something.

‘We both fought at 3 a.m. What I think, something that’s happened is that they get me to the arena very early.

‘Like my pickup time was 10.30 p.m. to go to the arena. And then when we get to the arena, they tell us that we are scheduled around 1.45 a.m. right?

‘They come to the locker around 1 and Joshua (was just arriving around 1).

‘I’m like, “OK, we are fighting at the same time, how come I have a pickup time?” We received a schedule, an email, and then for some reason I was there at least one hour before.

‘But for the fight, at least two hours beforehand. They do this kind of trick to get you tired. I was like, “Cool.” I was like, “Bro, it’s OK.”

‘I didn’t know how it was, how important that was, until the fight day that I have to get there two hours before.’

One of the facts that can justify Ngannou’s claim is that the boxing world wanted Ngannou to lose the bout seriously. That performance against Fury had been like a disproof of beliefs that were held dearly in the sport.

His identity as a UFC heavyweight champion did not endear him to boxing enthusiasts who feared to see their sport, which some of them hold sacred in a sense, get treated lightly by a famous crossover fighter.