Ngannou finishing Velasquez (photo via ESPN / YouTube)

By FCF Staff

Officially, Francis Ngannou recorded a 26 second, stoppage win over Cain Velasquez at UFC Phoenix. But the former heavyweight champ says a knee injury, rather than the slugger’s fists, led to the loss.

As Velasquez changed levels, and Ngannou countered with punches, the AKA fighter went down awkwardly and the fight was stopped soon after. The video footage appears to show Ngannou landing an uppercut that buckled Velasquez and his knee.

During the post-fight press conference, however, Velasquez had this to say about the fight’s finish (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“It was just the knee, he didn’t even, like, touch me, you know?” Velasquez said. “It was just the knee, as soon as I felt the knee just buckle, it was like I couldn’t believe that happened. And then that was it.”

“Going in for his leg, I felt he kind of clubbed me on the back of the head, but that didn’t graze me at all,” Velasquez continued. “None of the punches grazed me at all or did anything to myself where I felt like I was unbalanced or anything. Just getting in on the inside and it was just a freak thing that happened with my knee.”

During Ngannou’s post-fight time with the media, however, he claimed an uppercut he threw landed, and that was why Velasquez went down like he did.

Now it remains to be seen how long Velasquez will be sidelined, due to the knee injury.