The vicious Francis Ngannou KO of Alistair Overeem that announced him as UFC’s most dangerous heavyweight fighter

Francis Ngannou has proven himself to be one of the most exciting and intimidating heavyweights in UFC history.

He is one of the hardest punching men in the division and will put that to the test once again at UFC 270.

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The Cameroonian takes on former training partner Cyril Gane for the right to be called the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion on Saturday.

However, during his time with the UFC, the 35-year-old has become one of the most fearsome fighters on the planet and now there is genuine interest in him boxing WBC heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury.

Many would argue Ngannou’s stock skyrocketed the night he put Alistair Overeem to sleep in 2017.

Bearing in mind Overeem had fought in and around the very top of UFC’s heavyweight division for years, he was the first major name that Ngannou had to face in the company and after knocking out all five of his opponents prior to Overeem, many were curious as to how he would adjust.

The answer was extremely well. Ngannou would knock Overeem out with a scintillating uppercut in the very first round after fending off The Demolition Man’s attempts to manhandle The Predator.

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Even Overeem was forced to acknowledge the quality of the finish and he called the punch an ‘uppercut from hell.’

“No damage and all healthy thankfully.. unfortunately lost today. Props to, I got hit with an uppercut from hell, one of his specialties which we knew were very dangerous. Some chill time now before back to the drawing-board,” Overeem tweeted after the loss.

UFC boss Dana White knew he had a superstar on his hands after that victory and he had every right to be excited about what many people were calling the UFC’s answer to Mike Tyson.

“We’ve had some trouble getting him a fight,” White said of Ngannou’s lack of fights in 2017 after his victory over Overeem. “But once we keep this guy active and you see him doing this to all the big stars that you know, and yeah, I think this guy’s going to be a rock star globally.”

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“The guy, first of all, when you look at him, he looks like the heavyweight champion of the world,” White said. “I mean, he looks like the heavyweight champion of something. The guy is a monster.”

“He looked incredible tonight. Wow… That’s as impressive a heavyweight knockout as you’ll ever see.”

However, there was a bump in the road. Ngannou let the immediate fame go to his head and he’d follow that devastating knockout up with two losses, one of which was for the UFC heavyweight title.

White firmly believes it was Ngannou’s ego that let him down.

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“He had a pretty quick rise here, and obviously the fight over Alistair Overeem catapulted him, everybody was talking about him,” White said. 

“I thought he was going to be the next guy. I think his ego ran away with him big-time. I can tell you that his ego absolutely did run away with him. 

“And the minute that happens to you in the fight game, you see what happens. You start to fall apart. I had some personal encounters with him, as did other people in the organisation, and this guy’s ego just was so out of control.

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“Before the Stipe fight, he took off and went to France,” White said. “Didn’t really even train for that fight. And you see the results. Well, then he comes back, and he did train, but I just — ego is what hurt Francis Ngannou.”

Still, Ngannou seems to have got his ego in check and he is now on a five-fight win streak that culminated in winning the UFC heavyweight title.

Win or lose at UFC 270, he’s now got his eyes on the biggest names in heavyweight boxing and he’s ready to make the move.