Francis Ngannou had some spectacular knockouts during his UFC career – but none of them were quicker than his finish of Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
Just 20 seconds was all he needed to sleep the decorated kickboxer in May 2020.
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After rebounding from back-to-back decision defeats by knocking out Cain Velasquez, Curtis Blaydes and Junior dos Santos, Ngannou was booked in a title eliminator bout against an undefeated prospect.
Rozenstruik quickly earned a 10-0 record after transitioning to mixed martial arts and was fresh off a brutal fifth-round stoppage win over Alistair Overeem whose lip seemed to explode during their fight in December 2019.
Several months later, he found himself standing opposite Ngannou.
‘Bigi Boy’ landed an inside leg kick to start proceedings, but Ngannou used his noticeable size advantage to square up and run down his opponent.
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The Cameroon-born fighter threw a series of shots until a left hook caught Rozenstruik flush on the jaw and it sent him to sleep against the cage.
Rather than back away from his unconscious rival, ‘The Predator’ lived up to his nickname by landing several unnecessary shots.
Rozenstruik’s head bounced off the fence as Ngannou uncorked five follow-up hooks before veteran referee Dan Miragliotta was able to step in and wave off the bout.
Boxing legend Mike Tyson was one of the many people watching who were blown away by Ngannou’s ruthlessly quick finish against Rozenstruik.
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Taking to Twitter, Tyson wrote: “Resounding…vicious…future champ. Francis Ngannou 20 second knockout tonight.”
The 57-year-old forged a career out of destroying opponents during his reign of terror in the 1980s as he left top heavyweight contenders and legends on their backs.
In fact, growing up as a child, Ngannou was a huge fan of ‘Iron Mike’ and even wanted to emulate his career inside the boxing ring.
On Saturday, he’ll get the chance to realise his boxing dream when he debuts in the squared circle against WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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Furthermore, Ngannou will have Tyson in his corner after hooking up with the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history who has been training him to beat ‘The Gypsy King’.
While Ngannou’s career has gone from strength to strength since beating Rozenstruik, the Surinamese star has struggled during the seven fights that have followed.
Once a potential title contender, Rozenstruik has lost four more fights since being blown away by Ngannou and has just one win from his last four bouts in MMA’s premier promotion.
Last time out, he was supposed to be an acid test for rising star Jailton Almeida but was taken down and submitted by the Brazilian in less than four minutes.
Quick stoppage wins over Chris Daukaus, Junior dos Santos and Augusto Sakai mean he’s in no danger of being cut but it appears this once promising prospect was derailed by Ngannou’s frightening power.
It’ll be arguably the biggest upset in boxing history if he is able to do something similar to Fury during ‘The Battle of the Baddest’ this weekend.