Watch Francis Ngannou spar ahead of UFC 270.
Much have been made about the old sparring footage between former teammates Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane, with another UFC champion even chiming in about the questionable timing and release of it. Ahead of their clash at UFC 270, the heavyweight champion decided to release some less controversial sparring video of his own.
Ngannou shared a glimpse of how he sparred with two of his training partners, the #13 ranked UFC heavyweight contender in Blagoy Ivanov, and Santino Zurita, a Muay Thai fighter and 1-0 amateur MMA fighter. Watch the clip above to take a peek at the heavyweight champion’s training in Las Vegas.
Ngannou and Gane will face off in a title unification bout at UFC 270, on January 22nd.
Ngannou won the belt by knocking out Stipe Miocic last March, while Gane won a controversial and seemingly unnecessary interim title that was put on just give months after Ngannou’s huge win.