Francis Ngannou: ‘I Don’t Know What It Takes to Have a Title Shot in the UFC’

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The results speak for themselves: Francis Ngannou is laying waste to the UFC’s heavyweight division.

“The Predator” continued his path of destruction at UFC 249, as he dispatched the previously unbeaten Jairzinho Rozenstruik in a mere 20 seconds in a featured bout at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday night. Ngannou wasted little time before rushing forward with power punches, and once he connected with a massive left hook, Rozenstruik crumpled to the canvas. The Nigerian-born Frenchman added a couple more follow-up blows for good measure before the contest was halted.

Although it looked like Ngannou had a clear intent behind his approach, he claimed that he wasn’t hunting for a quick knockout victory.

“I had fun out there, it wasn’t something I was chasing,” he said. “When I chase the knockout, it doesn’t work, so I don’t chase anymore. When he called me out, I’m like, ‘This guy doesn’t know what he’s doing.’ He just came here and had a few knockouts, but I didn’t see anything impressive, but I don’t mind people calling me out.”

Ngannou began his promotional tenure with six consecutive victories, a rapid rise to stardom that earned him a title shot against Stipe Moicic in January 2018. After being overwhelmed in a five-round decision loss, Ngannou looked uncharacteristically passive in his next outing, a forgettable defeat to Derrick Lewis at UFC 226.

Since then, Ngannou has restored the hype with a four-fight winning streak that features first-round finishes of Curtis Blaydes, Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos and Rozenstruik. While Ngannou might very well be the No. 1 contender in waiting, he could be waiting for a while if Miocic, the reigning champion, and Daniel Cormier agree to a trilogy bout later this year.

At this point, Ngannou isn’t going to spend too much time trying to solve the mystery of what might make him more worthy of challenging for UFC heavyweight gold.

“I don’t know what it takes to have a title shot in the UFC,” he said. “To be honest, I’ve made my peace with that. It’s not that I don’t care, but I don’t want to feel like something is controlling me. With or without a title shot, I’m still a fighter and still have what I have and can make a statement.”