Mighty mouse thinks Anthony Joshua beats Francis ngannou in mma

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Lol now your pushing it fam

Are you familiar with Brock Lesnar? From the time he made his MMA debut up to winning the UFC title it took him less than 18 months. Great collegiate wrestler, American folkstyle, former NCAA D1 national champ. However, the guy couldn't strike to save his life, he was literally scared to get hit, and his body was already breaking down after years of pro wrestling.

Has the heavyweight landscape drastically improved or evolved since 2008? Clearly not. I'd say around a year is about right for a fighter as athletically gifted and dedicated to training as Joshua. He'd probably even be gifted a title shot in the UFC almost immediately (if he chose to take it). Come to think of it, didn't Dana already offer Fury an immediate heavyweight title shot against Jones? If memory serves he did.

 

[Simple Southerner]

I wish boxers would forget about $$ for a min (they are already rich ASF)
And stop being a bunch of pussies and do some crossover MMA bouts.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

If it's someone like Almeida then he'd have to stop the initial takedown, then work at separation from the grip while he gets off the cage. Then he's going to immediately reshoot.

People don't immediately shoot on Frank because he's not easy to take down and can grapple a bit.

Frank is also big and strong as fuck. So is Joshua. That's why he wasn't able to bully him in the clinch like he did to Fury. He couldn't even do shit to him there. Joshua's strong as an ox.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Frank is also big and strong as fuck. So is Joshua. That's why he wasn't able to bully him in the clinch like he did to Fury. He couldn't even do shit to him there. Joshua's strong as an ox.

Strength doesn't really matter all that much if you don't know what you're doing. Look at how Almeida was picking up and tossing a guy like Blaydes around in the first round. No way Joshua survives that without at least blue belt level BJJ defence.

 

[BoogerDawson]

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Strength doesn't really matter all that much if you don't know what you're doing. Look at how Almeida was picking up and tossing a guy like Blaydes around in the first round. No way Joshua survives that without at least blue belt level BJJ defence.

Let's put it this way. If they try and take Joshua down from the clinch then they're as good as flatlined. In order to get into clinch range you first have to pass through boxing range against the most lethal striker they'll have ever seen. That'll leave them trying to shoot singles & doubles on him from halfway across the cage. There's a reason Randy was so careful when he took Toney down and why he chose the low single.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Let's put it this way. If they try and take Joshua down from the clinch then they're as good as flatlined. In order to get into clinch range you first have to pass through boxing range against the most lethal striker they'll have ever seen. That'll leave them trying to shoot singles & doubles on him from halfway across the cage. There's a reason Randy was so careful when he took Toney down and why he chose the low single.

I don't think it's as difficult to get to a clinch as you think. How often does Joshua end up in a clinch situation in boxing?

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

I don't think it's as difficult to get to a clinch as you think. How often does Joshua end up in a clinch situation in boxing?

It will be against such a world class technical boxer. Range control is their game and Joshua is an effective out-boxer. He's also very long & tall with Jones-like reach. He'd be an imminent threat from anywhere and he has the full punch variety in his toolbox. Sharp combinations, single shots, counters, leads, you name it.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

It will be against such a world class technical boxer. Range control is their game and Joshua is an effective out-boxer. He's also very long & tall with Jones-like reach. He'd be an imminent threat from anywhere and he has the full punch variety in his toolbox. Sharp combinations, single shots, counters, leads, you name it.

Range management against punches. He's never had to practice range management against wrestling or kicks.

 

[joeson]

Joshua hits so hard even Mighty Mouse is loopy.

 

[ryun253]

Yeah man, he'd kill him with MMA gloves on

All this talk about Francis' chin being granite, etc. AJ shook that notion, curious if Ngannou always had a weak chin, he's never really been hit flush aside from Miocic in MMA because people were so afraid of him. But the first right hand AJ landed he butt scooted across the ring

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Range management against punches. He's never had to practice range management against wrestling or kicks.

Range control, or distance management, includes head control to keep opponents at bay. His opponents will have a head on their shoulders. Again, they could shoot on him from the outside or kick, but they won't be simply walking in and getting to the clinch. Not without risking their consciousness they won't.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Range control, or distance management, includes head control to keep opponents at bay. His opponents will have a head on their shoulders. Again, they could shoot on him from the outside or kick, but they won't be simply walking in and getting to the clinch. Not without risking their consciousness they won't.

In all likelihood they'd shoot low and use that to get to a clinch if they can't get the double leg.

 

[TheGreatA]

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To be fair Randy was an Olympic level wrestler and Toney had probably the worst footwork of any major, p4p level boxer in the past 30 years. He'd just stand still, slip punches and counter you. Not a skillset that easily translates to MMA.

Not to mention he had awful training discipline while Joshua is one of the most disciplined fighters in history.

I think Joshua could be another Cyril Gane if he put the work in. He won an Olympic gold medal within like 2-3 years of starting to box, he's a freak athlete like Ngannou, picks things up easily.

 

[Odoylerules22]

at a lower much more skilled weightclass it would be very very tough.

at HW or LHW....they suck so much that anyone that can hit hard is a contender. Joshua would have a decent chance. It't not like Francis is like GSP or mighty mouse

 

[mkt]

fat Derrick Lewis became a title contender
gimmicky Jailton top 5
Ngannou with no amateur experience in any MA became champ
now they are working on hyping up this sloppy cuban HW to be the next big thing

...but AJ, whos a huge HW, legit elite athlete, world class specialist, wouldnt be able to hang? Please. UFC could turn any decently athletic HW into a title contender with smart match making.

The HW division is a joke, AJ would be fighting for a title after a year of MMA focused training.

Yawn, people have been playing these hypotheical games this since UFC 1. Back then it was Tyson and Holyfield. The money isn't there. It's also risky. What if you get tapped out in 20 seconds? What if you get caught in an arm bar and don't tap soon enough or risk some other injury? The only famous boxers we'll see in MMA are way past-their-prime ones like Mercer and Toney. Boxers in their prime aren't going to take the time needed to learn to defend against kicks, submissions, TDs, etc. You can't learn all that in a one-month clinic, especially at the highest MMA levels.

The most fast-tracked fighter in recent history is Brock Lesnar, who had a wrestling background, which makes it similar. He trained at least part-time for a little over a year before his first fight. Then it another 18 months between that fight and his title fight against Couture.. What boxer in their prime is going to take 2.5 years preparing and fighting a few warm-ups or contenders before facing a HW champ?

 

[Khaiser]

I wish boxers would forget about $$ for a min (they are already rich ASF)
And stop being a bunch of pussies and do some crossover MMA bouts.

In fairness, they already participate in a more dangerous combat sport.

 

[AndrewGolota48]

Contrary to popular belief, elite boxers would be extremely dangerous in an MMA cage.

It's not out of the realm of possibility, it just comes down to how committed the individual boxer is. These top boxers can afford 3-5 million dollar camps easily, it's not the same.


Folks act like it takes a lifetime of training to get legitimate TDD and a half decent guard in BJJ, if an elite boxer is serious, he will be able to compete.


The conversation always comes down to can they survive low kicks and the grappling? If you can be decent at defending both you will be a championship contender. Elite and semi-elite kickboxers already have the low kicks on lock, so they come right over and dominate in MMA.

We literally saw former NFL player Greg Hardy come into MMA late as all hell with zero background, and he took Volkov to a decision and did pretty decent. The only thing stopping us from seeing the truth is that the pay in MMA is just not high enough for anyone to take a crossover seriously, they would have to be washouts from their respective sport.


For decades it's been said that a strong grappling base is the key to having a successful MMA career, but times are changing. Now we are seeing fighters build their game off of their striking, because you don't need to be a wizard on the ground, you just have to know how to stall rounds and mitigate damage. How many of the UFC champions right now even employ offensive takedowns? MMA rules are designed to favor strikers, it's why every round starts on the feet, and why fighters with a grinding style are penalized for "inactivity". I don't understand how folks can see Greg Hardy do half decent, and you don't think one of the greatest punchers on the planet with unlimited resources couldn't hold his own with the proper training and experience.

I'm not even saying Joshua could beat Ngannou in MMA, but the dismissal of true world class athletes is crazy to me. Boxing is a much harder sport than MMA, the guys at the top have incredible skill and talent. In MMA you can become a champ while having extreme deficiencies in your game, it doesn't work like that in other high level martial arts.

It's funny to read this and think the best boxer in the world couldn't beat Francis in a boxing match, in his debut.

But on a serious note, there are boxers who would be great at MMA, and boxers that would be terrible.

What is so hilarious is that many MMA fans still don't realize that it wouldn't be linear at all relative to boxing rankings. For example some 50th rank boxer could be ten times the MMA fighter that Fury or Joshua is, despite being significantly worse at boxing.

Same with the NFL example. There are guys on the bench that could very well be far better MMA fighters than some Pro Bowlers.

 

[HCS]

Could Francis pull off a low single like that?

Yeah that's a funny example. Francis isn't Couture and AJ isn't fucking Toney. I suspect Francis would have a much tougher time getting AJ down.

 

[AndrewGolota48]

Yawn, people have been playing these hypotheical games this since UFC 1. Back then it was Tyson and Holyfield. The money isn't there. It's also risky. What if you get tapped out in 20 seconds? What if you get caught in an arm bar and don't tap soon enough or risk some other injury? The only famous boxers we'll see in MMA are way past-their-prime ones like Mercer and Toney. Boxers in their prime aren't going to take the time needed to learn to defend against kicks, submissions, TDs, etc. You can't learn all that in a one-month clinic, especially at the highest MMA levels.

The most fast-tracked fighter in recent history is Brock Lesnar, who had a wrestling background, which makes it similar. He trained at least part-time for a little over a year before his first fight. Then it another 18 months between that fight and his title fight against Couture.. What boxer in their prime is going to take 2.5 years preparing and fighting a few warm-ups or contenders before facing a HW champ?

Most boxers won't even do bare knuckle fights, or MMA glove fights. Even that is way too radical of a change for them to handle.

But the real problem stopping it is the UFC and their contracts.

The money would be there if the MMA fights could simply be promoted and executed as one off events like boxing matches. If Conor or Khabib at the height of their popularity were not bound by the UFC and had somehow figured a way to conduct an MMA fight against a boxer in the manner of a boxing event, the money would've been more than just about any boxer would make boxing, because those two were bigger stars than 99% of boxers (and in Conor's case, 100%).