Francis Ngannou's striking technique

[aerius]

Yeah, I was never a big fan of Stipe either, for a lot of the same reasons you list. Always thought his striking, and especially boxing, was overrated and his win streak seemed kinda fluky. I'm just holding off on the Francis hype a little bit, eventhough I've made threads about how impressive his improvements has been. I still think we need to see more from his to be sure. I also don't like how overconfident he has been since the Overeem fight.

When you look at Stipe's technique there's nothing special, but it's the way he uses his skills that's key to his success. What Stipe's really good at is finding ways to force mistakes from his opponents and then capitalizing on them to get the win. He knew that JDS always leaves his hands down when trying to escape the fence, so he pressured JDS to the fence, hit him when his hands were down and then followed up with a finish. Werdum always leaves his chin in the air when he runs in with combos and that's how Stipe got him. Werdum always wants to "get it back" whenever he gets hit, Stipe used his speed advantage to hit him early and make him mad, and when Werdum started rushing in with punches he went back to fighting on the counter and clocked him. As for Overeem, he always shells up or makes bonehead mistakes when he's under sustained pressure and that's what Stipe did to him. He stayed in his face, gave him no chance to reset, and when Reem fucked up he got him outta there. There's nothing fluky about what he does.

As for Ngannou, I think it's his ability to make reads and use them to get ahead of his opponents and walk them into the finish that's his best skill. In his last couple fights he was really good at getting his opponent's distance & timing down, then noting what their responses were to various probes and using that to setup the finish. If you show him the same response twice, you are fucked. I wrote a longer post on how he setup & killed Overeem, and getting the read was how he wrecked Arlovski as well. There was a sequence about 30 seconds before the KO where Arlovski runs forward with a punch combo and leaves his chin open, Ngannou retreated a few steps and almost connected with a counter right hand. When he saw Arlovski go to his punch combo again, Ngannou stood his ground and hit him with a counter left hook, he knew Andrei's head would be unprotected and there to be hit if he timed his counter properly.

I think this fight is going to come down to who screws up first. Stipe's best bet will be to use his Mark Hunt game plan, use lots of feints & different patterns and timing to keep Ngannou's finger off the trigger and prevent him from getting a good read. For Ngannou, patience & composure. If he misses a few shots early that's fine, just stay patient and keep working the reads, sooner or later he'll find something that works as long as he doesn't gas out or take too much damage.

 

[j123]

BBC genetics


...wait wut?

 

[Sinister]

Francis works with Dewey Cooper here in Vegas, and word around town is he definitely hits very hard.

 

[Sano]

Francis works with Dewey Cooper here in Vegas, and word around town is he definitely hits very hard.

Word in boxing circles you hit very hard = you hit very hard. Different standard.

 

[Sinister]

Yeah, his power is the main thing I wouldn't deny. I have a young Heavyweight and when the subject came up of possibly putting them to spar Dewey gave me the courtesy warning of that he has to carefully choose sparring...guys who either can defend themselves extremely well, or are very confident in their ability to take a punch.

 

[eternaldarkness]

I am not convinced Ngannou hits harder than Hunt, JDS, Nelson, Overeem, or Arlovski. Any one of those guys can KO anyone on the planet, and Stipe beat them all.

Or either fighter could go out from a single punch in the first.

all these fighters hit hard but ngannou hits hard with the lead uppercut. it is a hard punch to throw well and i think he is a lot better than some people think. i can't imagine stipe as a pro boxer, i can image ngannou as a pro though, maybe not a great pro but a good one.

 

[Sano]

Yeah, his power is the main thing I wouldn't deny. I have a young Heavyweight and when the subject came up of possibly putting them to spar Dewey gave me the courtesy warning of that he has to carefully choose sparring...guys who either can defend themselves extremely well, or are very confident in their ability to take a punch.

Uhh, sounds scary lol.

Any input on his striking overall?

 

[tekkenfan]

all these fighters hit hard but ngannou hits hard with the lead uppercut. it is a hard punch to throw well and i think he is a lot better than some people think. i can't imagine stipe as a pro boxer, i can image ngannou as a pro though, maybe not a great pro but a good one.

you do know stipe wasa good amateur boxer right not just a mma guy

 

[Uchi Mata]

@Sano

I can't see it go to the 4-5th round, specially if Stipe wants to stay on his feet... Only way they go the distance, is if Stipe lays and prays... if he is able to keep Ngannou down. I honestly cannot see Stipe avoiding a big connection for 3 rounds.

Funny, because I can't see Francis avoiding a big connection early. He's KOed his last 4 opponents in the first, including Werdum and JDS neither of whom are known for going down easily. He's more technical as a boxer, and while he doesn't have the 'Jesus Christ' power of FN, he's got more than enough power to shut down anyone with one punch. Which is really all you need if you're more likely to land that punch than the other guy.

 

[ARIZE]

I can't see Francis avoiding a big connection early.

Ha. For me it's the exact opposite. I bet you a Cyber-Beer for a KO in the 3 first rounds from Ngannou, against a KO in the 3 first rounds from Stipe...

 

[esum80]

i am assuming stipe's camp will game plan to avoid ngannou's power shots and have him wrestle more. ngannou is raw but he's a fucking specimen and a half. where stipe has the advantage of technique and experience, ngannou makes up for in physicality. really looking forward to this one.

 

[Uchi Mata]

Ha. For me it's the exact opposite. I bet you a Cyber-Beer for a KO in the 3 first rounds from Ngannou, against a KO in the 3 first rounds from Stipe...

I'll take that bet. This could definitely go either way, but I think Stipe getting the KO is slightly more likely.

 

[jojoRed]

Yeah, his power is the main thing I wouldn't deny. I have a young Heavyweight and when the subject came up of possibly putting them to spar Dewey gave me the courtesy warning of that he has to carefully choose sparring...guys who either can defend themselves extremely well, or are very confident in their ability to take a punch.

Is there any point of reference to how hard he hits? How's he in comparison to other fighters Dewey has trained etc. In the countdown he sure brought up Tyson etc but how's he in comparison to other big punchers he's trained.

 

[eternaldarkness]

you do know stipe wasa good amateur boxer right not just a mma guy

yes i do. ngannou just looks to have more potential as a boxer.

 

[tekkenfan]

yes i do. ngannou just looks to have more potential as a boxer.

r u serious? do you box? iv bene boxing since i was 13 in 2005 he looks like he's trained a year at my gym

 

[Sinister]

Uhh, sounds scary lol.

Any input on his striking overall?

Haven't seen enough of him to say, personally

 

[Sinister]

Is there any point of reference to how hard he hits? How's he in comparison to other fighters Dewey has trained etc. In the countdown he sure brought up Tyson etc but how's he in comparison to other big punchers he's trained.

Nah, Dewey and I only spoke briefly about him because I asked if he had any heavyweights. My heavyweight is only 18 and only has 2 amateur fights. But give me 6 months or so and he'll be sparring with Francis

 

[eternaldarkness]

r u serious? do you box? iv bene boxing since i was 13 in 2005 he looks like he's trained a year at my gym

yes i have boxed for 17 years. the reason why i say it is ngannou looks a lot more natural as a boxer. stipe has reasonable technique but is to robotic to ever be a good boxer. not every thing in boxing is about how straight you punch. if that was the case half the great fighters would be terrible.

 

[tekkenfan]

yes i have boxed for 17 years. the reason why i say it is ngannou looks a lot more natural as a boxer. stipe has reasonable technique but is to robotic to ever be a good boxer. not every thing in boxing is about how straight you punch. if that was the case half the great fighters would be terrible.

as a hw as long as you have solid fundamentals thats all you need stipe out boxed jr werdum mark hunt ect he has proven he is good at what he does and the threat of his takedowns make his hands even better frances has only beaten overeen who isnt known for having good hands that was a fight that was heavy in his favor overeem uses his size and strength to bully people not his slick technique

people keep talking about francis power that he only needs 1 shot but they forget stipe finishes fights with 1 shot all the time like vs werdum ect they are heavyweights him having that so called freakish power doesnt matters cause whoever lands the shot first is gonna win lol stipe is faster francis is very slow when he punches too i dont see why guys arnt seeing this the guy looks like he is punching underwater to me

 

[Sano]

as a hw as long as you have solid fundamentals thats all you need stipe out boxed jr werdum mark hunt ect he has proven he is good at what he does and the threat of his takedowns make his hands even better frances has only beaten overeen who isnt known for having good hands that was a fight that was heavy in his favor overeem uses his size and strength to bully people not his slick technique

people keep talking about francis power that he only needs 1 shot but they forget stipe finishes fights with 1 shot all the time like vs werdum ect they are heavyweights him having that so called freakish power doesnt matters cause whoever lands the shot first is gonna win lol stipe is faster francis is very slow when he punches too i dont see why guys arnt seeing this the guy looks like he is punching underwater to me

He's far from slow for such a big guy. He just uses long range attacks so it might look like he's slower than he is. Also he's extremely athletic and explosive.




I get what eternaldarkness is saying. Stipe is very fast on his feet for a HW and he's so well rounded and excellent at using his offensive wrestling mixed in with his hands (that's how he beat Hunt). He also has a lot of power, even for a HW, and can catch guys from a very short distance. With all that, he is way too straight up, too hittable (starts throwing caution to the wind entirely when he gets excited) and doesn't have the range to be a top boxer. I think he'll respect Francis so he'll come in sharp, but we'll see.

I actually think Stipe should be a slight favourite and I also think that Francis will lose his speed as he starts to gas. People are underestimating the experience advantage Stipe has, but it's a hard fight to predict either way. Can Francis stop the takedowns? Who connects first? Will cardio be a factor? So on.

Even with that, Francis obviously has more potential as a boxer.