Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou recently hosted a UFC 286 watch party at his village in Batie, Cameroon.
Ngannou watched his friend and fellow African Kamaru Usman compete in the highly anticipated rematch against Leon Edwards.
Usman was looking to bounce back from his knockout loss to Edwards and regain the welterweight title.
Ngannou’s reaction to the UFC 286 main event was captured in a video posted to his channel, where he could be seen cheering for Usman’s takedowns and criticizing Edwards’ blatant fence grab that led to a point deduction.
While Khabib Nurmagomedov suggested yesterday Usman had aged out as a champion, Ngannou has a different opinion.
When the official decision was announced in Edwards’ favor, Ngannou immediately expressed his disagreement. Despite this, he was happy with Usman’s performance and resilience, especially considering that he had to deal with injuries during his preparation.
Ngannou believes that Usman will bounce back and reclaim the welterweight title. Despite losing two straight to Edwards, Usman previously defended the title five times and remains a top-tier star in the UFC.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at Ngannou’s reaction to Usman vs. Edwards III, his comments on Usman’s preparation, and his predictions for the future of the UFC’s welterweight division.
Ngannou also commented on Usman’s preparation for UFC 286, claiming that he was not fully healthy and was dealing with injuries.
“I know that he didn’t train,” Ngannou said.
“He didn’t have (time) to train properly because of a lot of injury, but he was there. He was there. It’s a victory, an unfortunate victory, but I think now he’s mentally healthier than what he was before.”
This is substantiated by what Stephen Thompson said back in December.
“Kamaru Usman is having hand surgery, I know they [Leon Edwards] want to fight somebody in March and they were looking at Jorge Masvidal. He’s a stand-up fighter, which kind of inspires me a little bit because our division is heavy wrestlers, and Leon Edwards is a striker and he’s champ.” Thompson said on Fred Talks Fighting.
Usman was also spotted in Nigaria sporting a cast around his wrist. Despite that his agent called fake news at the injury reports at the time.
Despite his injuries, Usman was able to compete and put up a strong performance against Edwards. Ngannou’s comments suggest that if Usman was fully healthy, the outcome of the could have been different.
Despite losing two straight to Edwards, Ngannou remains confident in Usman’s abilities and believes that he will reclaim the welterweight title in the future.
“Yeah, let’s see what’s next. I believe he’s going to get it back. I believe it,” Ngannou said in the video.
Usman previously defended the welterweight title five times before losing to Edwards. Despite the setbacks, he remains a top-tier star in the UFC and is expected to continue to be a major force in the welterweight division.