Ngannou marks MMA return with deadly first-round Knockout win.

The highly anticipated fight took place in the early hours of yesterday morning in California, United States of America, USA.

The matchup, which lasted barely five minutes, was part of a historic night for combat sports: Most Valuable Promotions’ first MMA event and Netflix’s first-ever live MMA broadcast.

The fight with Lins was Ngannou’s first since he parted with the Professional Fighters League, PFL. Pundits had predicted a first- round knockout for Ngannou and the Cameroonian fighter did not disappoint.

Lins showed toughness during the opening exchanges and absorbed several hard shots, but Ngannou slowly began breaking him down against the cage, with repeated body shots and brutal pressure.

The finish came moments later when Ngannou unleashed a clean left hook that instantly stopped Lins in round one. 

The victory marked Ngannou’s 14th straight knockout win and quickly became one of the biggest highlights of the night.

Ngannou's last loss came in July 2018, during UFC 228. He lost unanimously via decision to Derrick Lewis. Just prior to that fight, he lost the heavyweight championship fight to Stipe Miocic, also via unanimous decision.

His last fight in the UFC was a win against Ciryl Gane, during the heavyweight division title fight in 2022 during UFC 270.

Reacting to his win, Ngannou wrote on his verified X account, formerly Twitter: “It’s been a long 19 months, but we did it. Thank you all for the support.” Ngannou almost maintained that he “is the best”

 Ngannou hints on next fight

After his first-round knockout victory over Lins, Ngannou hinted on his next fight and called Jon Jones out.

Ngannou shared his desire to share the cage with Jones, before both of them retire from MMA.

“He should be watching what I am doing and learning. Figure it out and come make it to this fight. This fight is going to happen before we retire,” Ngannou said.

While Ngannou is not part of the UFC anymore due to a 2023 contract dispute, according to ESPN, Jones is still technically under contract with Dana White's company.

In order for Ngannou and Jones to square off, either Ngannou would have to be reinstated into the UFC, which is unlikely, or Jones would have to get out of his UFC contract.

This is because, we gathered, the UFC generally does not allow their fighters to appear in other MMA events. 

Therefore, Jones will need to get out of his deal with White's organisation, if he wants to fight Ngannou in a Most Valuable Promotions card.

“I have to try to focus on getting out of my contract with the UFC. That will be the hard part if this fight is to happen. I don’t think Dana is interested in doing business with Francis, so doing it with MVP would probably be the only way to get out of my contract, that would be perfect,” Jones said.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3792 of Monday May 18, 2026