JNPO: MMA Year in Review – The Francis Ngannou/UFC feud continues
On a new Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, I take a break from the award-winning pro wrestling year in review series to return to the granddaddy of them all: the MMA year in review series.
In the first of four parts, the returning Paul Fontaine (also a granddaddy) of this website and Fight Game Media joins me to recap the first three months of 2022.
Headlining the January through March news was the growing dissension between the UFC and its heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. Ngannou began the year by unifying the title with a win over interim champion Cyril Gane and then had surgery on his knee, all the while being very vocal about his contract situation and wanting to do boxing.
It continued with the Colby Covington vs. Jorge Masvidal feud — both in the Octagon with a lackluster February fight and out of the cage with Masvidal punching his rival outside a Miami restaurant that resulted in charges being filed.
Paul and I also talk about Israel Adesanya’s middleweight title defense over Robert Whittaker, the Joe Rogan controversy that saw him out of UFC 271, and plenty more.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.