mma / Columns

411 Fact or Fiction: Is Francis Ngannou Ready to be the Heavyweight Champion?

December 6, 2017 | Posted by Lorenzo Vasquez

Welcome back to another edition of 411 Fact or Fiction MMA! I’m your host, Lorenzo Vasquez III, and it is my please to bring you the MMA edition of fact or fiction. Thank you for your comments last week, it is appreciated. We had some technical issues with voting and as a result, my battle with Jeffrey Harris will go down as a no contest. Nonetheless, Jeffrey showed up ready for war as he threw everything at me but the kitchen sink as we locked horns over Tony Ferguson telling Khabib Nurmagomedov to take a hike, Nate Diaz pricing himself out of the fight game, and Kelvin Gastelum’s win over Michael Bisping. Thank you, Jeffrey, for your efforts and contribution.

This week, the hard-hitting Robert Winfree challenges the man with the iron fist, Evan Zivin. They will lock horns over Francis Ngannou’s future outlook, Donald Cerrone returning to lightweight, streaming live UFC pay-per-views, and much more! Get ready, grab that grub, because it’s time for another round of, 411 Fact or Fiction MMA!

TALE OF THE TAPE
RED CORNER
Robert “The Last Rider” Winfree
Contributor/Live Coverage Guru/Host, 411 MMA Zone/411 Ground and Pound Radio Show
7-5-2

VS

BLUE CORNER
Evan “White Tiger” Zivin
Contributor, 411 MMA Zone
7-5-1

Metaphorically speaking, with no doubt, Francis Ngannou is the new Cain Velasquez and will hold on to the title longer than Velasquez and current champion, Stipe Miocic.

Robert Winfree: FICTION Ngannou and Velasquez are only similar in the sense that they entered the UFC young in the sport and were clearly destined to be players at the top one of the weaker divisions in the sport. Velasquez achieved success through unreal cardio, impressive wrestling, and a devotion to improving his all-around technique. By contrast, Ngannou has a great many questions around his game but has achieved success primarily through unmitigated power. Ngannou has a couple of other really good attributes, he has fast hands and likes to throw in combination as opposed to the single shots most heavyweights use. As for how long he’ll hold the belt, I can’t say with any degree of certainty given how wildly unpredictable heavyweight is but I would be relatively surprised if he went his entire career without claiming the title at least once.

Evan Zivin: FICTION Comparing Francis to Cain as a contender, the way he’s knocked off other ranked fighters on his way to a title shot, makes sense, but I hope you aren’t comparing him to Cain as champion, a man who spent around 4 years holding the UFC Heavyweight Championship over 2 reigns but only successfully defended the title twice and has racked up more injuries and has been on the shelf for more time than Ngannou has been training to be an MMA fighter. I don’t want Ngannou to be the new Valasquez. I want him to be better than that.

For a while, it seemed like Stipe would be the one to break the heavyweight champion curse and successfully defend the belt for a third consecutive time, but that may no longer be a sure thing if the Cameroonian is next on the docket for him. Stipe is a patient man and has a measured, well-rounded technique, but that may not mean much when he’s got Francis going all Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em on his fleshy bits. I could easily see Francis winning that fight and, with no other real threats on the horizon (unless the duct tape holds together long enough for Cain to fight again) Francis could go on to be the most successful heavyweight champion in UFC history.

Maybe. Let’s see him get through Stipe first and then we’ll speculate wildly on his future and legacy.

After seeing Max Holloway defeat Jose Aldo again for the second time and hearing him talk about keeping the division rolling, it is a shame Conor McGregor never defended the featherweight title and truly proved his worth as the division champion.

Robert Winfree: FACT Much as I think we all knew McGregor wasn’t going to be able to stay at featherweight really long term given the extreme weight cut he had to put in, the fact that McGregor and Holloway never had a rematch is incredibly sad. I would have loved to see those two fight again, heck I still would even up at lightweight. The situation that McGregor left that division in is lamentable, it’s also lamentable in any division. I mean look at how long it took for featherweight to get back on track, McGregor won the title almost two years ago and we’re just now returning to normalcy.

Evan Zivin: FACT It is a shame Conor never defended the featherweight title. It’s a shame Conor has yet to defend the lightweight title, or any other title he’s held. It’s a shame Conor has shown no real interest in the sport of MMA other than as a platform to build his brand and make as much money as he can taking advantage of as many people as he can because he’s been given the loyalty and support to do anything he wants. It’s all a shame. The run was certainly a lot of fun to watch but now that he’s essentially done, as I still don’t expect him to fight again, as least not in MMA (not unless someone is willing to pay 9 figures to do it), there’s not much left to say. We can only stand in awe of the aftermath and ponder the “What ifs” and unanswered questions left in his wake. Unanswered questions like, “What are you waiting for, Dana? Strip him of the belt so the lightweight division can move on already!!!”

Wait, was this supposed to be about Max? Holloway vs. McGregor II would be a fun fight. It’s never going to happen but I’d imagine it’d be a lot more competitive than the first one. Oh, what could have been. Sigh…

While Justin Gaethje managed to bang Eddie Alvarez up, his fight at UFC 218 told us he will need to improve his technical prowess if he wishes to remain a top ten UFC lightweight.

Robert Winfree: FICTION Gaethje is a deceptively technical fighter, it’s why no one can really win a brawl with him. Gaethje needs to work more on tactical decisions in real time rather than honing his technical game, his game is essentially fine in terms of ability but in terms of game planning and adaptability he needs to change things up a bit if he really wants to make a title run.

Evan Zivin: FICTION He’d have to work on his technique if he wants to stay in the Top 5 but he’s more than good enough to stay Top 10, especially when you consider that Nate Diaz is still Top 10 in the UFC’s rankings. I wouldn’t mind seeing Gaethje try to bounce back against some of the fighters in the bottom half of those rankings, such as Kevin Lee or Al Iaquinta. The win over Michael Johnson showed he belongs and the loss to Alvarez showed he can be competitive with the best (even though Eddie probably could have put him away without taking so much damage). Now it’s time to see what kind of staying power he really has since, for as fun as his reckless style is, he’s only going to be able to do it at a high level for so long. Let’s really see what he’s made of.

I meant that figuratively, not literally. Please don’t kill yourself just to entertain the fans, Justin.

SWITCH!

While Donald Cerrone should fight less often per year, he should not move back down 155-pounds as he intends to do.

Evan Zivin: FICTION I don’t see anything wrong with Cerrone going back to lightweight, as long as he’s not endangering himself with the weight cut. He’s on a losing streak at welterweight and 155 is where he’s had the most success. Plus, Rafael dos Anjos is out of the division so he has the ability to work his way back to a title shot (assuming the division ever has a unified champion again…). Plus, Donald will turn 35 next year so he may not be fighting for a whole lot longer. If he’s looking at this as one last big run to a title while he’s still able to compete with the best of the division, then I see no reason for him not to go for it. Give ’em hell, Cowboy.

Robert Winfree: FICTION I am horribly biased here, Cerrone looked very good at welterweight and the weight cut to lightweight is a serious consideration for him, but if Cerrone drops back down to lightweight there’s a real possibility that we get Cerrone vs. Gaethje and I can’t think of too many things in MMA I’d enjoy more right now than those two madmen tearing into each other.

Because of his diagnosis, colitis, it is clear Georges St-Pierre’s diet to gain weight for his move middleweight had a severe negative impact on his body; thus, GSP should not return to the middleweight division.

Evan Zivin: FICTION To be fair to Georges, we don’t know for certain that Georges’ weight gain is what led to him getting colitis. My many years of medical training, which I have condensed into about 15 seconds of Google searches before I started typing this, tells me that, while there are different ways to contract the condition, such as through a viral infection or inflammation due to lack of blood flow to the colon (I’m sure that’s more than you were hoping to learn about on a Wednesday morning), it’s not always known what causes it. It is possible, though, that GSP’s colitis could be attributed to his weight gain, or that an effect of his weight gain is what caused it.

I don’t know if this alone is evidence that he should stay away from middleweight. I think welterweight would ultimately be better for him since that’s where he seemed to be at his best physically but you would think going up in weight would be a healthier option since it’d require a less strenuous weight cut. Then again, GSP is the type of guy who bulks up so he can cut down, so, if that’s the only way he feels comfortable fighting at 185, then maybe he should go back to 170. That is, if he ever fights again.

Maybe he’ll just retire now so he can piss Tyron Woodley off. I’d be okay with that.

Robert Winfree: FICTION It’s more the second half of the statement I take issue with. If the issue with GSP is dietary then it’s likely correctable especially now that GSP has put on the necessary mass as maintenance is easier than acquisition. I do wish for GSP to retire again, simply because it would cause the most chaos after the UFC’s horribly greedy matchmaking, but I don’t consider colitis to be a sweeping indictment on his possible future at middleweight.

AJ Lester, who live-streamed UFC 218 by pretending to play as if the event were EA Sports UFC, will go down in history as the man who is responsible for the most creative way to illegal stream a live UFC event.

Evan Zivin: FICTION I can’t agree with something as hyperbolic as that. I wouldn’t know if someone has done something more creative than pretend to play a live Payperview (has anyone ever tried projecting one off Dana White’s head?), as I would in no way condone the illegal streaming of UFC Payperviews. That’s taking money out of poor little multimillionaires’ pockets. How will they ever be able to afford that solid gold Olympic sized swimming pool now? Thanks for ruining Christmas.

It is impressive what this guy managed to do. It’d be even more impressive if everyone and their FBI agent mother wasn’t aware of it since it’s now been plastered all over the MMA news sites. So nice job, AJ. Enjoy being sued into oblivion! I’m sure these judges will surely score things in your favor.

(They won’t. The kid is screwed.)

Robert Winfree: FACT I can’t express how brilliant that was, I hope Mr. Lester has a good lawyer given the UFC’s litigious nature but the idea and execution were tremendous.

So who won? You’ve got until midnight eastern on Saturday to vote, so make sure you make your voice heard!

And that’s it for today but, as always, we’ll be back next week with another contest! And please, be sure to vote!

Do you have comments and questions you’d like to get to me, or statements you’d like to see on 411 Fact or Fiction MMA, shoot me an email at:
[email protected]

Also, follow 411’s various and sundry zones on Twitter for your daily 411 fix!

411 Wrestling Zone Twitter
411 Movies/TV Zone Twitter
411 Music Zone Twitter
411 Games Zone Twitter
411 MMA Zone Twitter

More Trending Stories

article topics :

411 Fact or Fiction (MMA), Francis Ngannou, Max Holloway, UFC, Lorenzo Vasquez

More Stories

loading