Francis Ngannou enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s heavyweight division, capturing the undisputed title with a second-round knockout of onetime tormentor Stipe Miocic in the UFC 260 headliner on March 27. “The Predator” owns an 11-2 record inside the Octagon, finds himself on a five-fight winning streak and looks very much like a man at the peak of his powers. Though Ngannou does not yet have a scheduled title defense on the books, it figures to come in a unification bout with the unbeaten Ciryl Gane in late 2021 or early 2022.
As Ngannou awaits the exact details on his next assignment from UFC matchmakers, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied him to this point:
35: Years of age for Ngannou, who was born in Batie, Cameroon, on Sept. 5, 1986.
12: Ngannou wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 75% of his career total. His list of UFC victims: Miocic, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Junior dos Santos, Cain Velasquez, Curtis Blaydes (twice), Alistair Overeem, Andrei Arlovski, Bojan Mihajlovic and Luis Henrique Barbosa de Oliveira.
4: Ngannou victories by submission, accounting for 25% of his career total. His methods of choice: one arm-triangle choke, one armbar, one guillotine choke and one kimura. Ngannou has executed only one of his submissions since he linked arms with the UFC a little less than six years ago. He disposed of Anthony Hamilton with a first-round kimura at UFC Fight Night 102 in December 2016.
11: First-round finishes on the Ngannou resume, four of the sub-minute variety. He submitted Luc Ngeleka with a guillotine choke in 43 seconds on Sept. 20, 2014, put away Blaydes with punches in 45 seconds on Nov. 24, 2018, punched out Velasquez in 26 seconds on Feb. 17, 2019 and wiped out Rozenstruik with punches in 20 seconds on May 9, 2020.
1.64: Ngannou knockdowns per 15 minutes of UFC competition, placing him fourth on the promotion’s all-time heavyweight list in the category. He trails only Todd Duffee (2.91), Shane Carwin (2.03) and Pat Barry (1.74).
8: Knockdowns landed by Ngannou as a member of the UFC roster, putting him third among active heavyweights in the organization. Only Arlovski (10) and Walt Harris (nine) have been credited with more.
47: Significant strikes by which Ngannou has outlanded his opposition during his current five-fight winning streak. He has connected on 70 such strikes in wins over Blaydes, Velasquez, dos Santos, Rozenstruik and Miocic, all while absorbing only 23 in return.
6: Countries in which Ngannou has fought as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone 9-2 in the United States, 3-1 in France, 1-0 in Switzerland, 1-0 in Bahrain, 1-0 in Croatia and 1-0 in China.
.806: Cumulative winning percentage between the three men—Miocic, Derrick Lewis and Zoumana Cisse—who have defeated Ngannou. They own a combined record of 58-14.
300,000: Dollars in post-fight bonuses banked by Ngannou across his 13 appearances in the UFC. He has been awarded “Performance of the Night” on six different occasions.