I have seen the future of the heavyweight division

It was 2008. Chris Palmquist was yelling at me backstage at a regionl show.

“Hurry there is new f***ing guy he’s had like four fights and he just destroys people in like seconds HURRY.”

We ran to the front and it was already over. Some guy from upstate New York had beaten a really, really tough local heavyweight in 14 seconds. I had missed my first chance at seeing Jon Jones.

Six months later he debuted in the UFC vs. Stephan Bonnar and I wrote, “I have seen the future of mixed martial arts and his name is Jon Jones.”

It was a play on this site’s original slogan: “I have seen the future and it has no rules,” which was in turn borrowed from a misremembered 1974 Rolling Stone article by John Landau on Bruce Springsteen. On Jones, I was wrong and Cus D’Amato appears to be right: “People who are born round don’t die square.”

But it’s been eight years since, and I have seen the future of the heavyweight division, and his name is Francis N’Gannou. UFC president Dana White feels the same way too. The UFC boss was asked ” target=”_blank”>at the post-fight press conference how fast N’Gannou can get to the title given how young in his career he is.

“It’s one of those tough decisions when you have a guy this talented, and this Just Freakish,” replied White. “The guy’s a monster. And I’m really high on him. I think he’s the future. The question is – I don’t know if we’ve ever had a heavyweight [champion] that’s as big as this guy is, a heavyweight champion who is as physically imposing and scary as this guy is.

“And I love his story. He’s got a great story. I think he’s the future. So, we’ll see what happens.”

This is what happened Saturday night.

N’Gannou’s first fight was in November of 2013, and he went 5-1 in Europe over the next 18 months, before being signed by the UFC. He is 5-0 in the UFC in the past two years.

And his talents are accelerating. As the competition level is increasing, his skill level is increasing faster still. His first two UFC fights ended in the second round, the next three in the first and all in just the second minute. Last two won ‘of the Night’ performance Bonuses.

N’Gannou was pleased by the words of praise from the boss Saturday night at the post-fight press conference.

It made me happy,” he said gently, in careful French-accented English. “It made me confident.

And he said who he wants next.

I’m talking about Junior Dos Santos and Alistair Overeem, but I just talked about them because I think that Cain Velasquez is injured,” he said. If he’s in the game, I’m ready for him. He’s the next one I’d like to fight.