Former UFC 265-pound champion Francis Ngannou and ex-UFC heavyweight attraction Robelis Despaigne were both a part of the “Rousey vs. Carano” MMA event last weekend on Netflix and both emerged victorious. Ngannou annihilated Brazilian bruiser Philipe Lins while Despaigne stiffened former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos.
Pitting Ngannou (19-3) against Despaigne (6-2) seems like the logical choice for MVP MMA 2, assuming the promotion wants to continue its cage fighting campaign, since most of the world’s top heavyweights are already under contract with UFC and PFL. It’s either that, or a return to the troubled Karate Combat to fight whatever warm body is looking for a quick payday.
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“This Cuban is a terrible matchup for Francis Ngannou,” former UFC heavyweight champion, Fabricio Werdum, told Sherdog.com. “He has a lot of reach, speed, and precision. I’m 99% sure he’ll beat Ngannou by knockout.”
The last fighter to defeat Ngannou was UFC heavyweight knockout king Derrick Lewis, but it had nothing to do with reach, speed, or precision. They basically just stared at one another for three rounds and the judges flipped a coin at the end of the fight. Despaigne, an Olympic bronze medalist in taekwondo, is one of the few heavyweights with a height and reach advantage on Ngannou, but Renan Ferreira enjoyed those same advantages in PFL.
And we all saw how that turned out (spoiler alert: not good).
