Junior dos Santos Offers Strong Prediction For Francis Ngannou Fight
Junior dos Santos is confident heading into his fight with Francis Ngannou, and has offered his prediction for the bout.
Their heavyweight clash could easily serve as a No. 1-contender fight with an impressive win for either fighter. For the former UFC heavyweight champion, he doesn’t see the bout going the distance due to the knockout power that both he and Ngannou bring to the Octagon.
With that said, JDS is predicting that he can finish “the most dangerous man in MMA today” in the first round come fight night:
“It’s going to be my 12th main event in the UFC, so I’m used to fighting five rounds,” dos Santos told MMA Fighting. “I’ve been training for five rounds for a while. Honestly, it doesn’t make much different adding more rounds, especially because I expect this to be a really quick fight. Ngannou moves forward a lot, goes full speed in the first round. My goal is to make him pay in his first mistake, so I don’t think this fight will go much longer.”
“I think this fight has everything to end in the first round,” dos Santos said. “I move really well, so he can expect that from me. Moving a lot, but always attacking, being aggressive. He must be ready to dance. Muhammad Ali-style. Fly like a butterfly, sting like Cigano — not like a bee [laughs].”
“Cigano” picked up a second-round TKO over Derrick Lewis in the headliner of UFC on ESPN+ 4 on March 9, 2019. Before that fight, the former UFC heavyweight champion scored a second-round TKO win over Tai Tuivasa in the UFC Adelaide headliner. After the win, he laid out the challenge to Ngannou, as he thinks that fight makes sense and gets him one step closer to a title shot. Now, he has his wish.
“JDS” vs. Ngannou will serve as the headliner for the UFC Minneapolis show tomorrow night (Sat. June 29, 2019).
