UFC President Dana White was not impressed with the performance of Francis Ngannou in Saturday's UFC 226 pay-per-view in Las Vegas.
Ngannou who suffered a disappointing loss to Derrick Lewis via unanimous decision was only able to convert a total of 11 strikes in the fight. The loss dropped Ngannou's MMA record to 11-3 win-loss and 6-2 in the UFC.
White said that he was disappointed with Ngannou's performance stating that he thought that the French-Cameroonian fighter would be the next big thing of the UFC. Ngannou caught the attention of everyone when he scored six straight victories in the UFC highlighted by a knockout win over Alistair Overeem.
"I think he had a pretty quick rise here and obviously the fight over Alistair Overeem catapulted him, everybody was talking about him," White said.
Ngannou was destined for greatness as the company had set up a championship battle between him and Stipe Miocic. However, Ngannou failed to deliver as he suffered a five-round decision loss to Miocic last January.
Ngannou Still Hunted By Loss To Miocic
The 31-year-old Ngannou apologized to the public on Monday for his terrible performance against Lewis citing that his fight with Miocic greatly affected the result of the bout. Both Ngannou and Lewis landed a total of 31 strikes which is a new record for the fewest number of combined strikes in a heavyweight match. Bantamweights Jen Pulver and Jao Roque hold the record for the least number of strikes in a three-round UFC fight.
"I won't let everyone down again. All I can do now is prove myself and make you proud again." Ngannou expressed.
Lewis who improved to 20-5 in MMA and 11-3 in UFC also said that he was not proud of his performance. During the fight, Lewis suffered a back injury which resulted in him landing just 20 strikes. The victory of Lewis who came in No. 12 heading into UFC 226 puts him in a great position for a heavyweight title clash but he believes he shouldn't be fighting anyone with that performance.
DC Saves The Day
While the Ngannou-Lewis match turned out to be a complete disaster, the battle between Miocic and Daniel Cormier did not disappoint everyone as both fighters delivered an entertaining bout. Cormier scored an impressive first-round knockout victory over Miocic to become the first fighter to hold the light heavyweight and heavyweight belts simultaneously.
Cormier also joined Conor McGregor as the only fighters in UFC history to hold two titles in different weight classes at the same time. He capped off the night by calling out wrestling star Brock Lesnar who was sitting cage side to watch the fight. Cormier is set to defend his title against Lesnar.
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