Ngannou has been training with the Usman brothers in Colorado.
UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has been in Colorado recently, helping his friend Kamaru Usman prepare for his UFC welterweight title defence at UFC 278. ‘The Predator’ uploaded some footage of that trip and showed off a much larger physique than we are used to seeing from the Cameroonian.
At one point in the video Ngannou chats with UFC lightweight Justin Gaethje. With Gaethje, Ngannou discloses that he is around 290 lbs — 25 lbs over the UFC heavyweight limit.
The video also shows Ngannou doing light work in the pool and around Trevor Wittman’s Elevation Fight Team gym.
In Ngannou’s last fight, versus Ciryl Gane, he weighed in at 257 lbs. The lightest he has ever weighed in at in the UFC is 252 lbs. That was when he first fought Curtis Blaydes, back in 2016.
His weight has fluctuated in the UFC, with his weigh-in results fluctuating from 252 to 263 lbs. He’s weighed in at 263 lbs twice, both times before he fought Stipe Miocic.
Ngannou is 1-1 versus Miocic. In their second fight he won by second round KO to claim the UFC heavyweight title.
After a prolonged attempt to score a big money fight with former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, Ngannou was forced to return to action after the UFC put an interim heavyweight title on Gane.
Since beating Gane by unanimous decision in January, Ngannou has undergone successful knee surgery. Before fighting Gane, Ngannou was very vocal about his desire to restructure his UFC contract to allow him to compete in boxing.
It’s unlikely the UFC will let that happen without a fight. So if Ngannou continues to push for that kind of freedom it might be some time before we see him in the Octagon again.