Francis Ngannou claims he was 'tricked' ahead of Anthony Joshua fight as new excuse for KO given

Francis Ngannou claims he was 'tricked' ahead of his crushing knockout defeat against Anthony Joshua.

Ngannou succumbed to Joshua, who secured two knockdowns before landing a devastating punch to record a second-round victory in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

It's his second defeat in a row in the world of boxing following his controversial loss against WBC title holder Tyson Fury last year.

Ngannou, who left the UFC to pursue a career in boxing, said he didn't feel right in the dressing room moments before entering the ring.

He's once again bemoaned the late start time, claiming he was 'tricked' as he waited for hours in the dressing room.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, he explained: "Listen, I think we both fight at 3am. It's not like I fought at 3 a.m. and he fought at like midnight or something.

"We both fought at 3am."

The 37-year-old added: "What I think, something that's happened is that they get me to the arena very early. Like my pickup time was 10.30pm to go to the arena.

"And then when we get to the arena, they tell us that we are scheduled around 1.45am. right?"

Anthony Joshua drops Francis Ngannou during their bout. Image: Getty

The former UFC heavyweight champion arrived at the Kingdom Arena way before 'AJ'.

At the time, he questioned his pickup time as Joshua had yet to arrive when Ngannou was warming up in the dressing room.

"They come to the locker around 1 and Joshua [was just arriving around 1]," he said. "I'm like, 'OK, we are fighting at the same time, how come I have a pickup time?'

"We received a schedule, an email, and then for some reason I was there at least one hour before. But for the fight, at least two hours beforehand. They do this kind of trick to get you tired. I was like cool, I was like, 'Bro, it's OK'.

"I didn't know how it was, how important that was, until the fight day that I have to get there two hours before."