ONE Championship Heavyweights would smoke Ngannou, says Chatri Sityodtong

29 March 2022

ONE Championship Chairman Chatri Sityodtong believes that UFC Heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou would get ‘smoked’ by the ONE Championship Heavyweights.

Chatri opened up about the same when asked about the possibility of signing Ngannou recently at a press meeting. He said that Ngannous is not a complete fighter and laid out comparisons with ONE Heavyweight champion Arjan Bhullar and ONE Interim Heavyweight champion Anatoly Malykhin.

“I like Francis Ngannou, but I think our heavyweights would smoke him. He’s just not a complete fighter. For sure, if you ask any expert martial artist, you look at Anatoly Malykhin – Russian national pedigree wrestler, dynamite in his hands. (He’s) much faster than Francis Ngannou, much better ground game, black-belt level. He (Malykhin) was a submission champion in Europe. You look at Arjan Bhullar, wrestling, boxing. Francis is not very impressive on the ground. He’s got big, looping punches, he’s not as technical of a boxer as Anatoly or even Arjan,” Chatri said.

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Ngannou is currently having a rough patch with the UFC due to contract negotiations and the champion is yet to sign an extension with the company.

ONE Championship, meanwhile, is expected to host a unification Heavyweight title fight soon between Bhullar and Malykhin. ONE had created the Interim Heavyweight title due to contractual issues with Bhullar but the same seems to have sorted out.

What do you think of the quotes from Chatri Sityodtong? Let us know in the comments below.