Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos is rooting for Francis Ngannou in his upcoming boxing match against Anthony Joshua, praising Ngannou’s knockout power and energy, despite acknowledging Joshua as the favorite to win.
Francis Ngannou is set to face Anthony Joshua in a boxing match this Friday. This comes after a surprising split decision loss to Tyson Fury. Interestingly, a former UFC rival, Junior dos Santos, is rooting for Ngannou.
Dos Santos, a past UFC heavyweight champ who lost to Ngannou in 2019, shared his thoughts on MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca podcast. He’s hoping for a full upset from the Cameroonian powerhouse, despite viewing Joshua as the favorite.
“I believe in Ngannou’s knockout power and energy, his willpower to win,” dos Santos said. He’s a fan of Ngannou’s style and how he makes things happen. He also acknowledges that Joshua is extremely talented and well-adapted to boxing.
Joshua is aware of what Ngannou was able to do to Tyson Fury. This knowledge could potentially decrease Ngannou’s chances, but dos Santos remains hopeful. “I hope Ngannou can score a good victory or even a knockout against Joshua,” he added.
Ngannou has an impressive record in his professional MMA career, with 17 wins out of 20 contests. He’s credited with 16 stoppages. His boxing record stands at 0-1, but he managed to knock Fury down in their match.
“Cigano,” as dos Santos is also known, has trained with Joshua in the past. He warns the former boxing champ to prepare for something surreal on Friday. He emphasizes Ngannou’s knockout power and overall strength, which he believes people often underestimate.
Dos Santos recently won the Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA heavyweight title with a knockout of Alan Belcher. He’s now 2-0 in bare-knuckle MMA matches since leaving the UFC. He’s content with Gamebred but still hopes to box in the future.
Dos Santos also wouldn’t be surprised if Ngannou never returns to MMA after facing Joshua and possibly rematching Fury. This is especially after PFL announced plans to book him against Renan Ferreira. Ferreira is the 2023 PFL heavyweight champion who stopped Bellator titleholder Ryan Bader in mere seconds in February.
Dos Santos believes it might be harder for Ngannou to return to MMA if he wins the boxing match. He argues that boxing is more lucrative and simpler to train for compared to MMA. “It would be more comfortable for me to do just boxing, and I try to see the same way for Francis Ngannou,” he said.
“But we have Renan ‘Problema’ in MMA, who just became the unified champion in PFL and Bellator,” he continued. He praises Renan’s talent, hunger, and skill. He believes a fight between Renan and Ngannou would attract global attention.
Renan is a big heavyweight who moves like a middleweight, according to dos Santos. He may not have Ngannou’s knockout power, but he moves faster. “He’s the Brazilian version [of Ngannou], but more skilled than Francis Ngannou,” dos Santos said. He believes Renan’s fighting skills and comfort with his weight and size will make some noise.