Francis Ngannou has shot into the top five of the men’s pound-for-pound rankings after UFC 260.
‘The Predator’ finally managed to reach the top of the mountain, knocking out Stipe Miocic to become UFC heavyweight champion. Up next, he’s rumoured to be defending his strap against Jon Jones.
The rise of Francis Ngannou
Jones is still the man to beat in mixed martial arts with the UFC rankings having him as the number one P4P male fighter in the promotion. However, Ngannou isn’t all that far behind now.
Francis has gone from 13th all the way up to 5th, whereas Miocic has dropped down to 7th. Prior to Saturday night’s bout, Ngannou had strung together four straight first round knockout wins to firmly cement himself as the number one contender – and now he’s officially the baddest man on the planet.
The next question for the champ is a pretty simple one: how far can he go?
It’s one thing to win the title but it’s a whole other thing to keep it. Jones, Miocic and even Derrick Lewis are all names that’ll feel they could rightfully face off for the belt next.
Ngannou himself clearly wants to be a fighting champion and after the weekend’s performance, who can blame him?
Francis Ngannou is arguably the most terrifying fighter in the sport right now. Alas, we’re all well aware there’s no room for error at the top, so the next couple of years in the heavyweight division could be fascinating.
Jon Jones is waiting – and, potentially, so is the number one spot in the P4P rankings.
UFC Men’s P4P Rankings
1st – Jon Jones
2nd – Kamaru Usman
3rd – Alexander Volkanovski
4th – Israel Adesanya
5th – Francis Ngannou
6th – Dustin Poirier
7th – Stipe Miocic
8th – Jan Blachowicz
9th – Max Holloway
10th – Deiveson Figueiredo
Featured image credit: Getty