Francis Ngannou and Jairzinho Rosenstrike had a fight

Francis Ngannou defeated Jairzinho Rozenstruik at UFC 249 in Jacksonville, Florida, USA. The fight could not have been prolonged.

Francis Ngannou

Francis Ngannou is a mixed martial artist who was popular for his devastating punch. The knockout occurred in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s December 2017 event, when he defeated heavyweight contender Alistair Overeem. It is best to not show him fighting for those who are faint of heart.

Francis Ngannou, UFC’s number one heavyweight, has been struggling in his last five fights. We’ll know he is out of this cycle if he beats the number four heavyweight this Thursday.

Yet Francis failed to confirm his champion ambitions. In January 2018, he legitimately lost to Stipe Miocic by decision of the judges in a title fight. After this loss, Francis followed it up with back-to-back defeats: one more unanimous decision against Derrick Lewis and one TKO from 31 year old Russian Nikita Krylov on 13 October 2017. Three months later however Cameroonian Pierre Ngannou showed that the heavyweight was not yet out of hopes in style when he knocked out American Curtis Blades within 44 seconds then stood victorious over top contenders such as Junior dos Santos, Jairzinho Rosenstrike and Kane Velasquez after just 1 round of boxing.

After Francis’ career hit a black streak, the fighter lost to Stipe Miocic in a title fight (by points), then lost – also by decision – to Derrick Lewis. But Francis is a puncher and Lewis was laboring and he fell short of expectations when he stopped him without reasonable punching practice.

After watching Ngannou conduct himself in previous bouts, it was put forward that he would go about fighting the same way. First, Curtis Blades received a knockout blow from him, followed by Kane Velasquez who was finally sent to retirement. He also made Junior Dos Santos back off – so the next name on Ngannou’s punch list became Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

Ngannou is not a perfect fighter, but a perfect champion with a perfect story. An African who was born into poverty, worked in a sandpit since childhood, almost died making his way out of Africa to Europe, lived on the streets and made it to the very top in the finals. A giant with a bassy laugh, pumped muscles and a monstrous punch you can’t even last two rounds against is the final boss from any computer game.

Jairzinho Rozenstruik

Jairzinho Rozenstruik made his UFC debut last year as the opening fighter for 2020. He fought four times – all of them turning into knockouts, with the only exception being in a fight against Andrei Orlovsky. In that fight, Jairzinho knocked Orlovsky out in just one minute and 30 seconds before he could throw a punch back.

Knockout

The knockout was a tough one. Ngannou turned on the mill – he went forward with a series of big punches (Deontay Wilder style). Rozenstruik got confused and flew into a knockout – after a killer left jab. The Cameroonian then threw five finishing punches. That was unnecessary – Jairzinho had already lost his ability to fight back.