Francis Ngannou has issued an apology for his UFC 226 performance.
The co-main event of UFC 226 was expected to be a barn burner. Two heavyweight bulls in Ngannou and Derrick Lewis clashed inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Both heavyweights are knockout artists and with bad blood to boot, many felt it was impossible for the two to have a boring bout.
We were all wrong.
Ngannou and Lewis fought to a three-round snoozefest. A look at FightMetric reveals that Ngannou only landed 11 strikes in the entire fight, while Lewis connected with 20. Headliners Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier both landed more strikes in one round than Ngannou and Lewis did in 15 minutes.
UFC president Dana White called the fight an “abomination.” White also claimed that “The Predator’s” ego is leading to his downfall. Ngannou has broken his silence through Instagram and has offered an apology:
“I am not proud of my last performance. I have carried my fear from the last fight to this one. I completely understand the frustration and anger that it has caused to my fans, coaches, teammates, family and friends and I am truly sorry for that. I won’t let everyone down again. All I can do now is prove myself and make you proud again.”
Ngannou’s performance at UFC 226 was bizarre. Prior to facing Lewis, “The Predator” had only gone the distance twice with both bouts ending in a loss. Ngannou had seven knockouts and four submissions before meeting “The Black Beast.” Ngannou was often swinging for the fences in his bouts, but that just didn’t happen at UFC 226. UFC color commentator Joe Rogan questioned what Ngannou’s loss to Miocic did to him mentally. It looks like Ngannou has admitted it had a profound effect.
Do you think Francis Ngannou will ever be the same fighter following his UFC 220 loss to Stipe Miocic?
