JRE MMA Show #160 with Francis Ngannou

**Joe Rogan** (0:13)
What's up man? Good to see you.
You have had a lot of experiences since the last time I saw you.

**Francis Ngannou** (0:21)
Yeah.

**Joe Rogan** (0:22)
A lot of things happened.

**Francis Ngannou** (0:24)
That's why I like, I always about writing my book and chapter keep adding up, adding up, adding up. And yes, every time you feel like you're just maybe in the beginning or in the middle.

**Joe Rogan** (0:39)
Yeah, I don't think so. You're definitely only in the middle.

**Francis Ngannou** (0:45)
Yeah, in the middle.

**Joe Rogan** (0:46)
Somewhere, it's not the beginning, but it's a lot of experiences. So tell me about leading up to the Tyson Fury fight.

**Francis Ngannou** (0:56)
Oh, the Tyson Fury fight. That was great. You know, I was just there living the dream.
You know, get this big moment, get that fight that I've been waiting for four years.

**Joe Rogan** (1:07)
The fight that everybody said you were never going to get.

**Francis Ngannou** (1:09)
Yes.

**Joe Rogan** (1:10)
Which is crazy. Like, thank God for the Saudis, because they are making things happen, which is really incredible.

**Francis Ngannou** (1:18)
And it's not like, who is this? Who is who? Who is that?
You know, it's like, okay, we want it to happen, then make it happen.

**Joe Rogan** (1:27)
Yeah, because everybody wanted to see it happen. But it was one of those things where everybody dismissed it. Everybody said, that's not going to happen. Tyson Fury is the heavyweight champion. Why would he fight a guy who doesn't have any professional boxing matches? That's crazy. That's not going to happen.
And it happened. And then everybody said you didn't stand a chance. And then when you knocked him down in the second round, everybody was like, holy shit.
And when you're dancing over him when he went down.

**Francis Ngannou** (1:53)
Yeah.
But you know, I think a lot of people do mistake something, you know. And I always tell people, like, not because you're a fighter, that you walk in the bar, and there's this guy coming to you, maybe this fat guy coming to you. And then you stand there. And because you're a fighter, don't think like he's a threat. Everybody could be a threat. You better take two steps back and then, like, see your distance and get ready to defend yourself.
You know, if everybody hits you, anybody hits you, you're going to get hurt, you know.

**Joe Rogan** (2:28)
True.

**Francis Ngannou** (2:28)
So yes, I might not have been doing boxing. I'm not a boxer. But still, I'm a fighter. And even if I wasn't a fighter, you know, I can hurt.
And I can harm somebody.

**Joe Rogan** (2:40)
You're a big motherfucker.

**Francis Ngannou** (2:44)
So I was watching it. And people was like, no, he stand no chance. He has zero chance. I'm like, there is not a fight on Earth that zero chance. That element of zero chance doesn't exist.
I mean, if you look at it, I'm a man, guy. And then two men together, someone might have more techniques, might know the sport.
But even if I never been in the gym, you still better watch out. I still have a chance. Maybe not as much, maybe not equal chance, but I still do have a chance.

**Joe Rogan** (3:14)
But you can't dismiss someone like you and drop your guard. And think that you don't have any chance.

**Francis Ngannou** (3:20)
You shouldn't dismiss anybody.
We used to be in the... I have seen fight that people show up and then they pretend like, oh, they're going to fight. They have stone in their hand. And if you dismiss them because you think like, oh, he's a small guy, he hits you with the stone in his hand.

**Joe Rogan** (3:36)
Right, right, right, right.

**Francis Ngannou** (3:38)
Well, by the time you find out that he has stone in the hand, you are in the ground.

**Joe Rogan** (3:41)
Right, exactly. But it was very clear to me that you had some interesting strategies when you went into that fight. First of all, you were fighting a lot of it in Southpaw. Why did you decide to do that? Was that something that you guys had devised before the fight? You thought it would be an interesting strategy?
Or is that just like the way you like to box?

**Francis Ngannou** (4:04)
I like to box like that, but I also thought he was a strategy.
That he would be a good strategy as well. Because like basically on the Tyson Fury fight, I think the Southpaw was a big component in that fight. Because every time that I realized that every time that I switched to Southpaw, he was thinking. But when I switched back to orthodox, he was pressing. So when I want to take a break, I switched to Southpaw.