What martial arts does Francis Ngannou use in the UFC?

Francis Ngannou is an MMA fighter from Cameroon who became the UFC Heavyweight champion. Just looking at the size and physique of Ngannou, it’s clear you wouldn’t want to mess with him. Even if he was untrained, the reality is that he would be a very tough fight due to his power. However, due to years of training – he has undoubtedly turned into a brilliant martial artist and one of the most dangerous men on the planet.

Similarly, Ngannou also has a pretty high fight IQ, so to dismiss him as some kind of strength monster like Brock Lesnar would be a huge injustice. You don’t achieve his kind of MMA record without having brains as well as brawn. Here’s what martial arts Francis Ngannou knows and uses when fighting in the cage.

Francis Ngannou knows Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Whilst Ngannou doesn’t hold an official belt rank in BJJ, it’s pretty clear that he knows how to roll and has a decent enough ground game. Obviously, he is best known for his striking prowess and is seen as a boxer more than anything else. This is pretty standard across the board for heavyweight MMA fighters. However, it turns out that Ngannou is actually handy when it comes to grappling too, especially on the ground.

In one of his earlier UFC fights back in 2016, he defeated Anthony Hamilton by using a Kimura. Even more interestingly, during his first five professional fights, he achieved three submission victories which included a number of different techniques. This was years ago, so it’s fair to assume that he’s developed his game since then.

We can’t also forget the defensive side of his BJJ either. When he fought Ciryl Gane, Ngannou swept his opponent from half guard and then successfully defended a heel hook. This was clearly something that Ngannou had worked on and showed his versatility.

Francis Ngannou is best at boxing

Undoubtedly, Ngannou’s main passion is boxing and this can be seen in his fighting style. Although he can mix it up, he’s most comfortable when boxing. Again, this is typically quite common when looking at heavier fighters where most of the action is done whilst standing. By boxing, we don’t mean Muay Thai or kickboxing either, we instead mean regular, western boxing.

This love started back in Cameroon when Ngannou started training aged 22 years old. This would be his first entry into martial arts and is late by most peoples terms. However, Ngannou is not an ordinary person and has often over-achieved during his life. Here, he boxed for roughly one year – before stopping.

It wouldn’t be until four years later when he immigrated to Paris when Ngannou would pick up boxing again. This was his main aspiration at the time due to mimicking his idol, Mike Tyson. Although he continued to box, Ngannou was then persuaded to train MMA. The rest they say, is history.

Speaking of Mike Tyson, the pair met and trained together in 2022. Here, Tyson claimed that Ngannou would retire from MMA at the end of his UFC contract and go into boxing. Honestly, this makes sense considering the pay gap where Ngannou could command significantly more if he switched to boxing. Due to his style and reliance on punches, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Ngannou do well in the boxing ring.

Glancing at Ngannou’s MMA record, the vast majority of his wins come by way of knockout or TKO. Obviously, a combination of boxing and a man well over 100KG is a dangerous combination. His knockout wins include victories over Curtis Blaydes, Cain Velasquez, Alistair Overeem and many others. These fighters aren’t exactly bums either which says it all.

Francis Ngannou can wrestle

Earlier on in his UFC career, fans were impressed by Ngannou but saw him as little more than a knockout artist. At the time, he showed real knockout power but was definitely a little one dimensional. As we mentioned earlier though, Ngannou has a strong fight IQ and developed his wrestling later on in his MMA career. This would serve him well and was a smart move as he would go on to fight better opponents.

For example, he really showed solid defensive wrestling against Stipe Miocic in one of his last UFC fights. Miocic is known for good wrestling skills but Ngannou defended his shots well. At one point, he defended a single-leg takedown and almost span to Miocic’s back as a result. This is a counter attack that few would have predicted before the fight and showed his new found versatility.

In his next fight against Ciryl Gane, Ngannou proved that his wrestling wasn’t just defensive either. Here, he successfully slammed Gane down to the ground from a double-leg takedown. At this point, there was no doubt about it that Ngannou could wrestle. Combined with his boxing skills, this made him a more complete fighter – and a true mixed martial artist as a result.

Conclusion

Francis Ngannou is most definitely a good boxer and regardless of his size, it’s clear that he has real technical ability. Remember, at his weight division it’s not just about hitting hard either, it’s also about avoiding punches which is equally as important. For all his size, it would only take one hit for Ngannou to get knocked out.

Aside from his excellent boxing skills, he can also grapple. Whilst Ngannou prefers to box – he can also use BJJ on the ground, both defensively and offensively. Towards the end of his MMA career, he also added boxing which was equally as effective.

To summarize, Francis Ngannou is a multi-talented martial artist and fighter. It would be easy to label him as a giant due to his size but in reality, there are plenty of big guys without the record to match. In conclusion, you should never write Ngannou off when it comes to fighting and his ability to learn and improve is one of the reasons why he’s so good.

If you’d like to learn more about Ngannou then check out his interesting autobiography.