Midnight Mania! Ngannou Returns To Source Of His World-Altering Power

Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC

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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

How does one become the heaviest hitter in a division filled with very heavy punchers? Were it not for the existence of Francis Ngannou, one would assume such an accomplishment comes from decades of practice honing punching form alongside extreme natural athleticism.

Instead, Ngannou’s impressive strength and subsequent knockout power has often been credited to a childhood that saw him forced to mine sand. If you’re privileged like me and don’t understand how one mines sand, Ngannou returned to his village recently and revisited the sand mines he was once forced to work in.

Watch him work below:

Ngannou writes, “I may be top ufc heavyweight, but when I go home to my village, every time I always stop to the sandmine to work with my friends like when we grew up. Today, it’s enjoyable and fun to do, but as a kid forced to do it, it was a stone on my throat … but we had to do it since that was our only choice to have the minimum things necessary to survive.”

Aside from the clearly grueling aspect of the work, the whole process looks remarkably unstable. Ngannou is hacking away at the ground right below the patch of sand that is supporting him! That man is 260 pounds! It doesn’t take a genius to see how things could go wrong in a hurry.

Fortunately, if Ngannou is able to avoid landslides and other hazards, the Cameroonian athlete is next-in-line for a title shot and is likely standing as a backup for the current Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier rubber match.

Insomnia

In the latest episode of our Thailand doc, I get thrown around by Muay Thai fighters who are way better than me. Watch it below and read more HERE!

Henry Cejudo passes the “art of cringe” — and hopefully some wrestling tips too — to his niece and nephew.

I like Jorge Masvidal’s hair, but I cannot ignore a Happy Gilmore meme.

This reaction drill is pretty neat! Don’t ask me to explain the specifics, but I know from my own S&C coach that drills like this are designed to improve the brain’s ability to receive a signal and react athletically as quickly as possible.

Jiu-Jitsu is one step ahead of COVID-19.

Some good ground rules from a highly successful Muay Thai and MMA gym:

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Back fists are funny. They can look ineffective, but if one connects with the point of the chin, well …

I believe this is called a “slobberknocker.”

Dustin Poirier never threw soft punches, but that man shuts people down at 155 lbs.

Random Land

Tornado > tent.

Midnight Music: Eugene McDaniel’s primary claim to fame came from writing hits for other singers in the ‘70s (such as Roberta Flack’s “Feel Like Makin Love”). For me though, I really love his albums Outlaws and Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse, the latter of which is some of the craziest jazz-funk of its decade.

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.