After Quick Knockout of Junior dos Santos, Francis Ngannou Primed for Second Title Shot

Two years ago, Francis Ngannou was at the top of the UFC heavyweight contenders’ ladder, and he was expected to become world champion.

Things didn’t necessarily go as planned, but he’s once again in a similar position.

Ngannou (14-3) destroyed former heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos in just 71 seconds on Saturday night in the main event of UFC on ESPN 3 at the Target Center in Minneapolis. “The Predator” clubbed the Brazilian with punches to the head after Dos Santos become over aggressive in an early exchange, and once Ngannou connected, that was all she wrote.

Ngannou burst into the UFC and quickly won his first six bouts -- five via knockout and one by submission. He was laying out opponents like sod, and he eventually found himself opposite then-champ Stipe Miocic at UFC 220 in January 2018. The Frenchman came up short via unanimous decision, and then lost his return bout via decision in lackluster showing against Derrick Lewis. However, he’s rebounded nicely and is ready to finally wrest that title away from whoever is holding it when he gets the chance. Miocic will square off against reigning heavyweight king Daniel Cormier in the UFC 241 headliner on Aug. 17.

“After my two losses, I tried to figure out why I was doing it, and I realized at the beginning, I didn’t want to do MMA,” Ngannou said at the post-fight press conference. “I didn’t expect to do a professional career in MMA. It’s fun. At some point, I kind of forgot that. So, in the last three fights, I put that in line and tried to focus on it.”

His change of focus certainly has paid off. In his initial ascent up the rankings ladder before his first title shot, Ngannou torched two former heavyweight champions in Andrei Arlovski (UFC) and Alistair Overeem (K-1 and Strikeforce). Since his decision loss to “The Black Beast,” he bludgeoned Curtis Blaydes and then former UFC monarchs Cain Velasquez and now dos Santos. To say “The Predator” is ready for another chance at wearing the belt would be an understatement.

“Do I deserve the title shot? I think the answer is yes,” he said. “Then what happens if somebody gets injury, I just want them to give me the title contract and then we have time to prepare and put things together.

“I feel very good,” he added. “I’m very happy and I hope the UFC realizes that I deserve the title shot and the winner of [current heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier] and Stipe. I need some respect.”

The question now is whether Ngannou would prefer to fight for the title against the current champion in Cormier, a man who held titles in two weight classes and has only lost to Jon Jones, or Miocic.

“If ‘DC’ wins and decides to retire, the division will not stay without a champion,” he said. “They will have to figure out something, and I’ll be at the head of the line. I’m not concerned about that. Stipe is my rematch that I want to do, and ‘DC’ is a double champ and is about to retire. Either fight would be good for me.”