Francis Ngannou, Cameroonian-French mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, has apologised to fans after Anthony Joshua knocked him out in their heavyweight boxing fight.
In the early hours of Saturday, Joshua floored Ngannou in the second round of the 10-round heavyweight bout at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The British-Nigerian first sent the Cameroonian-French stumbling with a right-left hook, and he followed it up with another right hand, which left him unconscious on the canvas.
Richard Gonzales, the referee, signalled the end of the bout as Ngannou lay crumbled on the mat with the bout only a few minutes in.
In a tweet on his X account after the match, Ngannou described the fight as “a bad day in the office”.
He was remorseful for letting his fans “down” but promised “tomorrow will be another day”.
“Sorry, guys, I let you all down. Today was a bad day in the office, but tomorrow will be another day. Thank you all for the love,” the post reads.
The fight was Ngannou’s second professional boxing match after a spell in the UFC, where he was the heavyweight champion.
He left UFC earlier this year due to a contractual disagreement.
He then joined the Professional Fighters League (PFL). Ngannou’s contract frees him to pursue his boxing goals.
Ngannou faced Ttyson Fury in his first-ever professional boxing match. He lost via split decision despite knocking down the British two times in the fight.