Francis Ngannou On His UFC Debut: ‘I Didn’t Even Know The Rules’
Francis Ngannou has revealed he didn’t understand the rules of MMA when he made his debut in the sport’s premier promotion.
The heavyweight knockout artist is due to compete for UFC gold for a second time against Stipe Mioicic on March 27.
Ngannou is only 10 years into his MMA career but has managed to secure wins over some of the best heavyweights in UFC history.
During an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast ‘The Predator’ reminisced about making his UFC debut two years after fighting professionally for the first time.
“Woah! That was a crazy experience,” Ngannou said of his UFC debut. “I didn’t even know the rules back then. I remember I was in Orlando and I’m like, ‘man, this is the time. I’m going to be seen in the whole world. So, this is the time to take my opportunity to showcase my talent, to prove that I can do something’
“I’m like, ‘ok. So what is it about MMA? How [does] MMA work? What is the rules?’ How it goes and d I couldn’t get it. Like, I didn’t know the rules.
Ngannou went on to confirm his confusion about MMA rules stemmed from competing in France where ground strikes had been illegal.
“Yeah,” Ngannou responded when asked if coming up in France led to his confusion about MMA rules. “Even though I was doing it for just two years and remember at first it was just for fun. I wasn’t really there to become a professional fighter. All I cared about at the time was boxing. I found myself there (in the UFC) in two years and then I’m like, ‘what is the rules again? How [does] it work? If he tries to take me down can I do this?’ I was trying to figure it out. It was very stressful.
Ultimately, Ngannou was able to stop stressing about the rules by reminding himself “it is just fighting.”
“At the end of the day it is just fighting,” Ngannou said. “I don’t know if this guy is doing some Kung Fu sh*t but it’s just fighting. We’re going to figure it out… I’m a tough guy. I can handle it.
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