The best and worst from UFC Fight Night 141: Blaydes vs. Ngannou II
The UFC’s latest excursion into China is in the books, and while the show wasn’t groundbreaking, nobody really expected it to be going in.
What we did get was a fun morning/afternoon/evening (?) of fights, with a pair of Heavyweight contenders re-establishing themselves at the top of the division.
With just five fights of the 12-bout card going the distance, the show was full of action and being a Fight Pass card, the pacing seemed slicker than the UFC’s efforts on Fox Sports 1 too.
Here are the best and worst moments from UFC Fight Night 141: Blaydes vs. Ngannou II.
#1 Best: Ngannou isn’t finished just yet
I’ll freely admit it – even I was very cynical of Francis Ngannou coming into today’s fight with Curtis Blaydes.
After a pair of really soul-crushing losses in 2018 – his title fight loss to Stipe Miocic and then a shameful performance against Derrick Lewis – it felt like ‘The Predator’ was probably going to wash out of the UFC Heavyweight title picture and become known for being a fighter who never lived up to the early expectations set for him.
But Ngannou came into Beijing like a man on a mission, and incredibly, finished Blaydes off in just under 30 seconds.
He stuffed an early takedown attempt and then landed an overhand right reminiscent of the one Junior Dos Santos used to take away Cain Velasquez’s Heavyweight title back in 2011, and moments later, the fight was over.
Blaydes did protest the stoppage but he was clearly in trouble and it looked to me at least like he would’ve been knocked unconscious had he been allowed to continue.
Considering Blaydes was able to absorb shots from Mark Hunt in February, the power Ngannou displayed here was terrifying – not that we didn’t already know that.
The win vaults Ngannou right into title contention again and while it can’t erase the memories of his losses to Miocic and Lewis, it did prove that he still has plenty to offer to the Heavyweight division.
Whatever he changed coming into this fight, he’s got his mojo back – and that means problems for the rest of his potential opponents.