UFC heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou let a training partner tee off on him with some epic rib roasters.
UFC heavyweight Francis Ngannou, like many of us, might be suffering from bouts of quarantine induced boredom. Why else would the former title challenger let one of his training partners have two free shots to his stomach?
Watch below to see what happened when the top ranked contender took the #bodyshotchallenge.
I did my own version of #bodyshotchallenge #flexfriday pic.twitter.com/WrOQY0DKYu
— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) June 26, 2020
As you can see the Predator took the first punch like the champ he hopes to become. However, the second shot looked to have a little extra mustard on it. That thudding blow was met with a muffled sigh and then a wry smile from Ngannou.
After a second, the 15-3 fighter held up his hand to let his friend know; that’s enough. Ngannou then chuckled and hobbled off camera; doing his best to hide the pain.
It was rare to see Ngannou as the nail and not the hammer. He’s won his last four fights in terrifying fashion, stopping Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Junior dos Santos, Cain Velasquez and Curtis Blaydes all by strikes.
This run of form has Ngannou hoping to challenge for the UFC heavyweight title for the second time in his career. His first shot came at UFC 220 in 2018. That night Ngannou suffered his first UFC loss, to champion Stipe Miocic.
Depending on what happens at UFC 252, Ngannou might have a chance to get revenge against Miocic. On that card, currently slated for the UFC APEX facility on August 15th, Miocic will face Daniel Cormier for the third time in his career.
Though Ngannou has repeatedly stated his desire for a shot at the biggest belt in the business, the Cameroonian also revealed he was interested in a bout with UFC light heavyweight Jon Jones. However, it appears as though the UFC wouldn’t stump up enough cash to make that super-fight happen.