Francis Ngannou has revealed Kamaru Usman inspired him not to pull out of UFC 270.
Francis Ngannou almost pulled out of UFC 270 with a torn ACL but decided to pull through after being inspired by fellow Nigerian Kamaru Usman, ‘The Predator’ revealed on his YouTube channel yesterday.
Ngannou went on to beat MMA Factory’s Ciryl Gane via unanimous decision and credited Usman for inspiring him not to withdraw from the fight at the last minute.
“I had been talking with Kamaru Usman, I know exactly how much he deals with fights during training camp, I’ve been around, seen him in a fight week looking like sh*t but bro, see him in the fight day, he’s just a different person you know. I think that’s kind of like inspired me at some point,” Ngannou, who defeated Gane to retain the heavyweight title, said (h/t Sportskeeda).
Ngannou, who is still in a heated contract dispute with the UFC, is expected to undergo knee surgery in Los Angeles later this month with the same surgeon who worked on Conor McGregor and Georges St-Pierre for their ACL injuries (h/t Milan Ordoñez).
The Cameroonian knockout artist is #4 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings and on track to become one of the greatest heavyweight champions in the promotion’s history.