The main event of UFC Phoenix did not conclude without controversy. The outcome itself is undisputed: Francis Ngannou defeated Cain Velasquez and no party is contesting that. It’s the manner of how that outcome came about that is under dispute.
Cain Velasquez made his entry on Francis Ngannou and during the struggle, Ngannou began to swing and landed an uppercut in the process. When the uppercut landed, Cain Velasquez would drop and, upon an awkward landing, visibly grimaced in pain. So the question is, what caused the drop: the uppercut or the pop?
Cain Velasquez claimed in the UFC Phoenix post-fight press conference that the result of the heavyweight bout was brought about by a freak accident, with Ngannou’s knee playing no role. Francis Ngannou has stated the video should speak for itself. Javier Mendez, the head coach of Cain Velasquez, has indeed watched said video, and claims to have come away with a different determination than Ngannou.
“When you watch the video, if you’re really paying attention, then you see he got hit with a short-arm uppercut. But the way it looked…if you’re not paying attention, it looked like the uppercut really did the damage. But it wasn’t. His knee gave out,” Mendez said on MMA Junkie Radio. “And that’s what intensified and made it look worse. But he did get hit. But the knee popped before that actually happened. So I did an Instagram tweet where I said that. And not everybody, most people agreed.”
Do you agree with Javier Mendes? Was the result of the UFC Phoenix main event due to Cain Velasquez’s knee giving out or the uppercut from Francis Ngannou?
