Outside Source
In an interview with TMZ Sports, the former UFC heavyweight champion and current Professional Fighters League star recently weighed in on the foul that ended the title clash between Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Cane on Oct. 25 in Abu Dhabi. The UFC 321 headliner was off to a competitive start when Aspinall wa rendered unable to continue by an eye poke from his opponent. As a result, the bout was waved off and declared a no contest at the 4:35 mark of Round 1.
While Aspinall has received his fair share of criticism for electing not to continue, Ngannou points out that compromised vision is not something to take lightly.
“I think that eye poke made a lot of news – more than the fight itself, more than the announcement of the fight,” Ngannou said. “It was a very controversial feeling, and I understand there was a lot of frustration on the fans’ side who were so excited to see the outcome. But there was definitely an eye poke, and it compromised the vision of Tom. So I think the normal decision in that position is not to fight.
“Because the eye poke is not like you get kicked in the balls and then you can recover and come back. It compromises your vision. If you’re doing a combat sport with compromised vision, it’s not good at all … What if your vision is compromised? Then maybe because of that, something happens, you lose the fight. The same people will say how stupid you were, you should have stopped, you should have blah, blah, blah.”
The Biggest Fight of All-Time?
Before he parted ways with the UFC to sign with the PFL, Ngannou was linked with a potential clash against Jon Jones on multiple occasions. The bout never came together, and with “The Predator” under contract with a different organization, it seems to be little more than fantasy matchmaking at this point in time.
In the present day, UFC light heavyweight king Alex Pereira is angling for a showdown against Jones at the promotion’s highly-anticipated White House event, which is currently expected to take place in June. Though that might be the biggest fight the UFC can current make, Ngannou still thinks that there’s one pairing that would top it.
“Biggest fight of all-time can only happen with Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou,” Ngannou said. “That’s all what I can say about that. No disrespect to other fights or other fighters. I respect all of the fights and all of the fighters, regardless if the fight is on the main card, or prelim, whatever or wherever. I think great fights happen everywhere.
“I became a world champion in the Apex with no crowd, so I respect [fights]. It’s not about the place, but if you want to say biggest of all-time, you make it biggest.”
The 39-year-old Ngannou hasn’t competed since a first-round knockout victory over Renan Ferreira at PFL Battle of the Giants in October 2024. As of now, there is nothing on the horizon from the Cameroonian-born Frenchman, but he expects to have some clarity on his next step in the very near future.
“I think by mid-November they will tell me exactly where we are at,” Ngannou said. “But so far, nothing.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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