Ben Askren believes Francis Ngannou is running into a familiar problem as the former UFC heavyweight champion navigates his post-UFC career.
Ngannou, now 19-3, is coming off a first-round knockout of Philipe Lins at MVP MMA 1, which took place this past Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. He entered that bout as a big favorite, as he did against his prior opponent Renan Ferreira.
Askren drew a direct comparison to his own journey while speaking on Daniel Cormier's YouTube channel. "Actually, you know, that was one of my big issues is when Dana wouldn't sign me in 2013, and then I went to ONE Championship," Askren said.
"So, I was thinking of this of Francis, and this has been Francis' problem ever since he left the UFC. Maybe it's been like three or four years now?" Askren added. "It feels like a little while, but you need dance partners. And when I left Bellator and went to ONE Championship, I just didn't have anyone who could really fight with me. So it was hard to build it, you know? And Francis is in the exact same situation where he's got no one that can really fight with him, and you need that to build a star."
Ngannou parted ways with the UFC in early 2023 as heavyweight champion, with his last win in the promotion coming over Ciryl Gane. Gane is now scheduled to face Alex Pereira for the interim heavyweight belt in the UFC Freedom 250 co-main event on June 14 from the White House.
