Eddie Hearn ridiculed Francis Ngannou after the former UFC star gave an odd explanation for his defeat to Anthony Joshua.
The former UFC heavyweight champion experienced a devastating knockout in the second round against Joshua in Saudi Arabia earlier this month.
After knocking Ngannou down in the first round, Joshua ended the fight after two more powerful shots shortly after.
Speaking on the MMA Hour, the Cameroonian suggested some strange timings in Riyadh that night had a negative impact on his final preparations for the fight.
The main event did not start until around 3am local time, with Ngannou explaining he had been instructed to arrive at the Kingdom Arena at a specific time, while Joshua arrived much later.
As a result of the wait, the MMA star revealed he was ‘falling asleep’ backstage as he waited to make his ringwalk, claiming he had been ‘tricked’ into getting tired.
‘I think we both fought at 3am,” Ngannou told The MMA Hour. ‘It’s not like I fought at 3am and he fought at like midnight or something. We both fought at 3am.
‘I think what happened is that they got me to the arena very early. My pickup time was 10.30pm to go to the arena. When we got to the arena, they told us that the schedule was around 1.45am.
‘They came to the locker room around 1 and Joshua [was just arriving around 1]. I’m like, “OK, we are fighting at the same time, how come I have a pickup time?” We received a schedule, an email, and then for some reason I was there at least one hour early.
‘But for the fight, at least two hours beforehand. They do this kind of trick to get you tired.
‘I was like cool. I didn’t know how it was, how important that was, until the fight day that I have to get there two hours before.’
Joshua’s promoter Hearn, however, was not convinced. In response to Ngannou’s comments, which had been shared on Instagram, Hearn wrote: ‘I’m not sure he’s come round yet [from the knockout]’.
Ngannou’s next move could be a return to MMA, having signed a deal with the Professional Fighters League [PFL], who have lined him up to fight Renan Ferreira next.
