5 heavyweight legends who could've beaten Francis Ngannou in their prime

#2. Cain Velasquez vs. Francis Ngannou

At his best, Cain Velasquez appeared to be an unstoppable force

Given that Francis Ngannou needed just 26 seconds to take out Cain Velasquez with a brutal rush of strikes when they met in February 2019, it seems crazy to suggest that the Mexican-American could’ve beaten ‘The Predator’.

However, it’s safe to say that the Velasquez who was knocked out by Ngannou wasn’t close to being in his prime. At that stage, he hadn’t fought for the best part of three years due to a variety of injuries – namely a bad one to his back – and clearly had very little in the tank.

In his prime, though? Velasquez was probably the greatest and most skilled heavyweight to ever step into the octagon.

Not only did he have a phenomenal wrestling game thanks to his background as an NCAA Division I All-American with Arizona State, but he also had a remarkably underrated kickboxing game, could throw heavy combinations at his opponents and was capable of pushing a pace nobody could match.

More importantly, he also had a rock-solid chin. He was capable of surviving bad shots from the likes of Junior dos Santos and Cheick Kongo, bouncing right back up to abuse them like a real-life version of the Terminator.

So could prime Velasquez have beaten Ngannou? ‘The Predator’ possesses the power to knock out any fighter, but whether he’d have been able to withstand the sheer pressure that Velasquez could bring is another thing entirely. In this prospective fight, Ngannou would definitely have been the underdog.

---

#1. Fedor Emelianenko vs. Francis Ngannou

Fedor Emelianenko is widely recognised as MMA's heavyweight GOAT

While he’s tainted his legacy somewhat due to his terrible run in Bellator MMA and he might be persona non grata in the UFC thanks to his failure to come to terms with the promotion, there’s still an argument that Fedor Emelianenko is MMA’s heavyweight GOAT.

After all, ‘The Last Emperor’ ruled over PRIDE’s heavyweight division with an iron fist for years. He beat the likes of Mirko Cro Cop, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Heath Herring. He then took out former UFC champions Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia a little later down the line.

In his prime, Fedor’s game was about far more than just his sledgehammer right hand. The Russian was an excellent wrestler and grappler, capable of both submitting foes and destroying them with his ground-and-pound.

On the feet, meanwhile, he was a highly underrated boxer who used excellent movement and angles, carried savage power and was surprisingly fast given his less-than-svelte build.

‘The Last Emperor’ was also insanely tough, having survived some truly dire situations in his fights. That included being dropped directly onto his head by Kevin Randleman, who he submitted literally moments later.

Could Francis Ngannou have defeated prime Fedor? In all honesty, it seems doubtful. Sure, ‘The Predator’ possesses an ultimate equalizer in the form of his power, but he’d have had to have landed a perfect shot to put Fedor away.

The more likely outcome here would’ve been Fedor dancing around Ngannou on the feet before finding a way to ground him and then punishing him with heavy punches before latching onto a submission.

Put simply, while Ngannou has proven his greatness, he hasn’t quite proven himself to be on the same level as the prime version of ‘The Last Emperor’ just yet.