Tag: Francis Ngannou

Alexander Volkov says Francis Ngannou ducking him after Jair Rozenstruik booking at UFC Columbus

In light of Francis Ngannou’s recent fight announcement, Alexander Volkov accuses Ngannou of ducking him.

Now [autotag]Alexander Volkov[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] is the one dodging him.

For the longest time, Ngannou 14-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) claimed Volkov (31-7 MMA, 5-1 UFC) has turned him down on numerous occasions. But now Volkov is the one saying Ngannou won’t fight him.

Thursday night, it was announced that Ngannou will headline the UFC’s March 28 event at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, against Jairzinho Rozenstruik (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC).

Volkov chimed in with his thoughts, accusing Ngannou of ducking him.

“Its just me, or @francis_ngannou just evaded me again? He wanted to fight me so much, but ducked me for the other guy as soon as I’ve asked UFC to fight him. He is funny…”

And it didn’t take long for Ngannou to respond.

Frustrated with the UFC and eagerly looking for a fight, Ngannou was campaigning hard for the Volkov fight, most recently calling him out for the UFC 246 card on Jan. 18. Volkov responded with a counter offer, suggesting Paris in March. Ngannou responded that he’s willing to fight him any time, anywhere.

Ngannou is coming off three straight first-round knockouts, but with the title picture held up with an imminent trilogy fight between UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier, Ngannou knew he’d have to take another fight before getting another crack at the title.

Rozenstruik emerged as a top contender with a big comeback knockout win over Alistair Overeem this past weekend at UFC on ESPN 7 and proceeded to call out Ngannou after the win. It didn’t take long for him to get his wish. He draws the former UFC heavyweight title challenger next.

According to Volkov, he’s been asking the UFC for the Ngannou fight, claiming that “The Predator” has turned him down not once, but twice.

Volkov is coming off a win over Greg Hardy in November in Moscow, outpointing him in a one-sided unanimous decision win.

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Wish granted: Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik to headline UFC Columbus

Jairzinho Rozenstruik will get his wish for a heavyweight showcase with Francis Ngannou in March.

[autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag] will get his wish for a heavyweight showcase with [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] in March.

After calling for the matchup with Ngannou (14-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) both before and after his recent victory over Alistair Overeem, Rozenstruik (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) has been granted the bout, which would seemingly serve as a heavyweight title eliminator.

The pairing of knockout specialists will headline the UFC’s recently announced March 28 event at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Broadcast plans have not been revealed.

MMA Junkie verified both sides have agreed to the fight with people close to the situation following an initial report from ESPN.com. The people requested anonymity because the UFC has yet to make an official announcement.

Rozenstruik had a spectacular first year inside the octagon in 2019. Beginning with his February debut, he rattled off four consecutive winning performances, all of which ended by knockout. The most recent of those came against Overeem at UFC on ESPN 7 last weekend when Rozenstruik pulled off a lip-splitting finish in the final seconds.

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Ngannou his won his past three by knockout, as well, and was seemingly the clear top contender to the title. The UFC is booking champion Stipe Miocic in a trilogy bout vs. Daniel Cormier, though, meaning the path to the title will blocked for awhile. Ngannou has been pushing for another fight in the meantime to stay active, and now he’s got a willing foe.

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Sean Shelby’s Shoes: What’s next for Jairzinho Rozenstruik after UFC on ESPN 7 win?

See whom Jairzinho Rozenstruik should fight next after his TKO victory over Alistair Overeem at UFC on ESPN 7.

(ALSO SEE: Sean Shelby’s Shoes: What’s next for Alistair Overeem after UFC on ESPN 7 loss?)

[autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag] validated himself as a heavyweight contender Saturday when he rallied to stop Alistair Overeem in the final seconds of the UFC on ESPN 7 main event.

Rozenstruik (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) was down big on the scorecards when he pulled off a miraculous one-punch TKO of Overeem (45-18 MMA, 10-7 UFC) in the heavyweight headliner, which took place at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

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With the win, Rozenstruik remained undefeated in his MMA career and is coming off back-to-back finishes of heavyweight legends in Overeem and Andrei Arlovski.

After the fight, he called for a showdown with [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] (14-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) in 2020. “The Predator” seemingly obliged on social media, but is that the matchup that makes the most sense for Rozenstruik?

Watch the video above for thoughts and analysis on his future after the big win at UFC on ESPN 7.

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After impressive win, Jairzinho Rozenstruik says he’ll see Francis Ngannou soon

Jairzinho Rozenstruik wants to fight Francis Ngannou next in order to find out who is the scariest man in the UFC.

WASHINGTON – [autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag] picked up the biggest win of his career at UFC on ESPN 7 and he’s already got his sights set on a potential next opponent.

As the clock wound down in the fifth round of his main event bout against Alistair Overeem, Rozenstruik (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) landed a huge fight-ending punch. The blow sliced Overeem’s lip open in grotesque fashion.

“First, I got myself beat up and then I knocked him out,” the Surinamese heavyweight told MMA Junkie after the fight. “That’s part of the job. Put in work. He was fighting the fight. He’s so smart to do that. He did it for five rounds.”

Moments after the finishing punch landed, Rozenstruik began celebrating – even before referee Dan Miragliotta waived off the fight. Rozenstruik said he knew Overeem (45-18 MMA, 10-7 UFC) was “really knocked out.”

“I saw he was really knocked out, so I walked away,” Rozenstruik said. “I can be going in like, ‘Boom, boom, boom.’ But I saw (I knocked him out) like right away.”

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While the outcome my seem improbable or surprising to outside observers, Rozenstruik doesn’t view it that way. “Bigi Boy” stated a “never give up” mentality has been instilled in him.

“Don’t give up,” Rozenstruik said. “You always have to go through. And that’s what you do in the gym. You don’t train two minutes, you train two hours sometimes. I showed that today. I showed my heart and I showed that I belonged in this division.”

In his post-fight interview with UFC commentator Jon Anik, Rozenstruik called out the man he’s been targeting for weeks, [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag]. Why Ngannou (14-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC)? Rozenstruik indicated he wants to settle the debate on who the scarier fighter is.

“I like it,” Rozenstruik said. “If he accepts, then I’m excited about it. So I’m going to see him soon. I think it’s going to be a really good fight. He’s strong. He’s big. Even if you look at him, you’re like, ‘You’re big. You’re scary.’ But we have to do it. You know what I mean?”

UFC on ESPN 7 took place Saturday at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. The main card aired on ESPN following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.

Check out Jairzinho Rozenstruik’s full post-fight media scrum in the video above.

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Francis Ngannou responds to Jairzinho Rozenstruik’s callout: ‘I heard you’

Francis Ngannou sure sounds open to obliging Jairzinho Rozenstruik’s request for a fight.

[autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag]’s callout didn’t fall on deaf ears.

The Surinamese fighter made waves in the UFC’s heavyweight division on Saturday night at UFC on ESPN 7 in Washington D.C. Rozenstruik (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) viciously knocked out seasoned veteran Alistair Overeem (45-18 MMA, 10-7 UFC) with just four seconds reaming on their main event bout. It was a gruesome scene.

After the fight, Rozenstruik took to the mic to send some words to top contender Francis Ngannou.

“I want to be back in April and I really want to fight this big scary guy [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag],” Rozenstruik said. “So if you hear this right now, I hope you accept this fight. Man, let’s give those people a great show.”

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It didn’t take long for Ngannou (14-3 MMA, 9-2 MMA) to hop on Twitter and respond to Rozenstruik:

“I heard you babayga. You made yourself very clear tonight. Congrats on your come back by the way. #uncrowndedchamp #UFCDC”

 

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UFC DC headliner Jairzinho Rozenstruik isn’t intimidated by Francis Ngannou

UFC DC headliner Jairzinho Rozenstruik wants a piece of former UFC heavyweight title contender Francis Ngannou.

WASHINGTON – [autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag] is making it clear – he wants a piece of former UFC heavyweight title contender [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag].

Ahead of his UFC on ESPN 7 headliner against Alistair Overeem on Saturday night, Rozenstruik (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has already mapped out his path towards UFC title gold.

A victory against Ngannou will get him one step closer to that goal, Rozenstruik said. Additionally, Rozenstruik indicated the matchup is appealing because it allows him the opportunity to finally prove who the most intimidating fighter in the UFC is.

“It would be a nice fight,” Rozenstruik told MMA Junkie at Wednesday’s open workouts. “He’s the scary guy of the division – the boogeyman… (I’m) the other boogeyman of the division. You want to create a bomb in the Octagon? Put me in against him and lock the doors. The UFC fans will enjoy it.”

Presumably, most human beings on earth would file Ngannou under “intimidating” and “scary.” Rozenstruik is not one of them. The Surinamese fighter said he looks at Ngannou through the same lens as he would any other opponent.

“Nah, I don’t, because it’s a fight,” Rozenstruik said. “We’re going to go back-and-forth. It’s going to take five rounds of five minutes or three rounds of five minutes. I cannot be any wrong.”

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Does Rozenstruik think Ngannou will take the fight? Rozenstruik indicated Ngannou should stop asking for Alexander Volkov and fight him instead – “if he’s smart,” that is.

“If he’s smart he’ll take the fight,” Rozenstruik said. “If not, it’s his fault. I think I can make him better because I’m a better fighter in the end. So if it was me, I’d take the fight.

Before that matchup occurs, however, Rozenstruik will have to face a stiff test in Overeem (45-17 MMA, 10-6 UFC). While he credits Overeem’s abilities and legacy in the cage, “Bigi Boy” believes he has the tools to put “The Reem” down.

“Everybody can say you hit hard,” Rozenstruik said. “I hit hard. But if you can’t hit accurate, you’re going to miss. So the thing is to find the chin and put him down. As soon as that happens, you’re going to see the result.”

UFC on ESPN 7 takes place Saturday at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. The main card airs on ESPN following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.

Check out Jairzinho Rozenstruik’s full UFC on ESPN 7 open workout scrum in the video above.

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Francis Ngannou offers Alexander Volkov a free trip to UFC 246 in Las Vegas

Francis Ngannou has an opponent and date in mind for his return to the UFC cage.

[autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] has an opponent and date in mind for his return to the cage.

Saturday afternoon, the Cameroonian heavyweight, who sits at No. 3 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie heavyweight rankings, took to Twitter to issue a challenge to fellow contender [autotag]Alexander Volkov[/autotag], who checks in at No. 7.

According to the tweet, Ngannou (14-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) wants to fight Volkov (31-7 MMA, 5-1 UFC) on Jan. 18 at UFC 246 in Las Vegas.

This isn’t the first time Ngannou has called for a fight against Volkov. In an interview with MMA Junkie in early November, Ngannou claimed Volkov refused to fight him on multiple occasions.

“Just for the record, Volkov turned down the fight against me twice,” Ngannou told MMA Junkie. “One was July 2017 and August 2018. He clearly denied to fight me.”

Both Ngannou and Volkov are coming off of winning performances. Ngannou has won his last three fights, finishing Junior Dos Santos, Cain Velasquez, and Curtis Blaydes in a combined 142 seconds.

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As for Volkov, he most recently competed at UFC on ESPN+ 21 on Nov. 9. After his originally scheduled opponent Junior Dos Santos fell off the card, Volkov was matched up with former NFL pro bowler Greg Hardy.

While Hardy was able to hang with the former Bellator champ Volkov for three rounds, the fight was largely one-sided. Volkov point-fought Hardy for the entire duration of the fight, picking him apart from the outside.

Immediately after the fight, Ngannou issued a public challenge on Twitter, much like the one on Saturday afternoon.

Will Ngannou vs. Volkov get booked for UFC 246? Stay tuned to MMA Junkie to find out.

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Boxing champ Carl Frampton on meeting Francis Ngannou at the UFC PI: ‘I’ve never felt less of a man in my life!’

Former two-division boxing champion Carl Frampton’s recent stint at the UFC Performance Institute left him impressed with both the facilities and the punching power of one of its regular attendees.

Northern Ireland’s boxing superstar Carl Frampton has been training at the UFC Performance Institute ahead of his upcoming fight in Las Vegas, and “The Jackal” admitted he was blown away – both by the facilities and by one of the PI’s regular attendees.

Frampton headed out to Vegas to finalize his fight camp ahead of his bout with Tyler McCready at The Cosmopolitan on Nov. 30 and got a hook-up to train at the UFC PI via the UFC’s vice president of performance, Duncan French, who shares an association with one of Frampton’s regular gyms back in Manchester, England.

And after French gave Frampton the green light to finish off his fight camp at the PI, the former two-weight world champion was suitably impressed with the facilities he was given access to.

“The facility is amazing,” he enthused. “The people are really friendly and nice, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more, really.

“I didn’t really know what to expect coming here, being a boxer and not coming from an MMA background, wondering potentially how the other athletes will look at this boxer coming into their gym to train, but everything’s been really nice.

“You train hard. You’ve got everything you need. We bring our coaches in, we do our punching sessions, but we can also do cardio here, we can also do weights. And then after we can go and chill out in the recovery suite, in ice baths, plunge pools, saunas, jacuzzis. It’s state-of-the-art, top of the range. I’ve never been in a facility like it.”

Frampton admits he’s a fan of the UFC, but is still getting to grips with his understanding of the grappling aspect of the sport. But when it comes to throwing hands, he knows exactly what he’s looking at, and he said he was very impressed with a certain UFC heavyweight’s ability to throw a punch.

“I’ve seen big Francis (Ngannou) training in here. He’s got good hands,” he said. “He’s talking about potentially … I’m hearing some stuff about a (Tyson) Fury fight. One thing for sure is I would not like to be hit by Francis!” he said, before admitting that the hulking heavyweight left him feeling a little intimidated in the locker room.

“I was standing beside him in the changing room recently, (and) I’ve never felt less of a man in my life!” he laughed. “He’s a big unit, and a real nice guy, too.”

Frampton said the explosion in the popularity in the sport in his part of the world is down in no small part to [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag], saying the Dubliner has “transcended the sport” and “made it huge.”

“Over the last decade, I think the McGregor effect has shot it up through the roof and there’s a lot of gyms opening up all over Ireland, all over the U.K.” he said. “So I think McGregor is the man.”

And while he admits he is still building his knowledge about the sport, Frampton said he has picked up even more respect for the athletes who compete in MMA during his time at the UFC PI.

“Since I’ve been here I’ve actually been researching a little bit more into it. And although I was already a fan of the UFC coming out here, I think I’ll be going away a much bigger fan.”

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

Francis Ngannou happy to fight Tyson Fury in MMA, then return favor in boxing

Francis Ngannou is down to fight Tyson Fury in both the octagon and the boxing ring.

[autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] is more than willing to fight [autotag]Tyson Fury[/autotag] in the octagon and the boxing ring.

Yes, that’s “and,” not “or.”

With boxing world champion Fury appearing to be dead set on making an eventual move to MMA, he proceeded to call out several heavyweights, including Ngannou, who wasted little time with his response.

“I’m like man, I don’t have a fight and anyways I was about to come find you in your territory, so if you come to my own, that would be great,” Ngannou told MMA Junkie. “And I can return you the favor because I want to cross to boxing sometime soon. That’s exactly how I feel right now.”

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Ngannou (14-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC), whose initial dream was to become a pro boxer, is very familiar with the the sweet science. His boxing background has translated very well into his MMA career, with 10 knockouts on his resume, taking out his last three opponents in the first round.

And while he’s been eager to get his next UFC fight, Ngannou says naturally, he’d be interested in facing Fury, since he comes from boxing roots himself.

“Maybe the frustration, the situation is teasing me, but my background is boxing,” Ngannou said. “I was going to do boxing before I discovered MMA. My dream was always boxing, so I took MMA because it was the opportunity that came to me, and I just needed it.”

Fury has already made his first step towards MMA, when he paid a visit to middleweight contender Darren Till at Team Kaobon, and was seen hitting pads, and drilling some takedown defense with Till during the training session.

“I think Fury is taking himself seriously,” Ngannou said. “I think he’s very serious about when he said he’s going to move to the octagon. He likes the show. He’s a showtime guy – you can see when he walks out in the fight. You can see like recently he was in WWE, so I think at this point in his life, he’s just there for the show.”

“Once again the video is just the proof of what I’m saying: He’s serious,” Ngannou added. “He’s taking himself really serious, and I wonder if he has been training. I think he’s been training on the ground you know, like in secret because he seems to be liking it, to like MMA, which many people do, and they just do it in secret, but now he just came out with his passion and obviously the intention to, actually.”

Ngannou, himself, has also been taking a potential fight with Fury seriously as he was seen hanging out with boxing legend and former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson, who he said has agreed to coach him if he were to fight Fury.

“Mike Tyson is a very spiritual guy,” Ngannou said. “I feel like when he was talking, I can recognize myself about almost all what he said. Very wise way to see life, he understands how life works. I mean not only sports, but life. It was very great, very interesting,”

UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic was also on the list of heavyweights that Fury called out, as he recently said that he’d actually rather fight Fury over a Daniel Cormier trilogy.

But Ngannou believes Miocic only started entertaining the idea, when he saw the back and forth between him and Fury, and the progress they’ve made towards a potential fight.

“I’m not having a problem for Stipe to fight somebody,” Ngannou said. “I just want to fight, and I want the title shot. Maybe if it’s happening, him fighting Tyson Fury, and they let me fight for the belt, let’s go, but I think Stipe is reacting like that now because how Tyson Fury and I have been going back and forth.”

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Francis Ngannou: Alexander Volkov is clearly dodging me, turned down two fights

Francis Ngannou has called out Alexander Volkov but believes he clearly wants no part of him.

[autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] has been wanting to fight [autotag]Alexander Volkov[/autotag] for years now.

After Volkov defeated Greg Hardy this past weekend at UFC on ESPN+ 21 in Moscow, Ngannou called him out, but Volkov had other names in mind. He said he wanted to face either Junior Dos Santos, as originally scheduled, or Alistair Overeem next.

The way Ngannou (14-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) sees it, it’s clear Volkov (31-7 MMA, 5-1 UFC) wants no part of him. In fact, Ngannou claims that Volkov has already turned down a fight with him before.

“Just for the record, Volkov turned down the fight against me twice,” Ngannou told MMA Junkie. “One was July 2017 and August 2018. He clearly denied to fight me.”

However, Ngannou did show praise towards Volkov’s performance vs. Hardy, crediting him for his composed approach throughout the fight. Volkov has won five of his six UFC appearances, with his lone loss coming to Derrick Lewis at UFC 229, in a fight he was clearly winning.

“I mean, it was a good fight,” Ngannou said of Volkov’s last win. “Fighting with some guy, big guy like Greg Hardy, of course he doesn’t have much experience, but he still hits very heavy and powerful. He handled the fight very well, very smart as always. He always fights very smart.”

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And when asked if he’s surprised that Volkov doesn’t want to fight him, considering his high position in the rankings, Ngannou said he feels like the gatekeeper of the division, since the UFC is refusing to give him a title shot.

“The UFC have made it clear for everybody that I’m who you have to fight if you want to fight for the title,” Ngannou said. “It seems like I’m just there to be, to go to the gate. That’s how it looks now. If they want to fight for the title, they have to fight me, but how about me fighting for the title? It doesn’t seem to be in the talk, so that’s exactly what the UFC has made me appear, to be the gate holder. And, yeah, I think Volkov is dodging me clearly. That’s not a secret that he’s dodging me.”

Ngannou went on to elaborate that his last three opponents, Curtis Blaydes and former champions Junior Dos Santos and Cain Velasquez, would have all received title shots had they beaten him. Instead, Ngannou took them all out in the first round, notching three straight wins, and he takes issue with not being awarded a title shot.

“I think all my three opponents, they had a title shot promise,” Ngannou said. “I think so, because Curtis Blaydes was title (shot) guaranteed. Cain Velasquez I think it was the same thing. Junior Dos Santos after three wins, it was the same thing. But they are just forgetting about me.”

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