Francis Ngannou will have a reigning UFC champion in his corner for Stipe Miocic fight at UFC 260
UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman will be in Francis Ngannou's corner at UFC 260 against champion Stipe Miocic. Francis Ngannou made the revelation in the third episode of the UFC 260 training camp vlog series on his YouTube channel.
Kamaru Usman is one of the most dominant wrestlers on the UFC's roster of fighters and Francis Ngannou believes that having Usman in his training camp is a decisive moment in the lead-up to his second crack at the UFC heavyweight title held by Stipe Miocic.
"Yeah. So Kamaru Usman's gonna be in my corner for this fight. So it's good having him here, helping me out for the fight. By this time you need everything. Basically he is gonna be in my corner and it's good for him to be training where I am and to bring his own assets to the game. This is like a very decisive moment leading up to the fight so it is very important to get with him. Basically a happy me with my wrestling, which is great. So yeah, it's good," Francis Ngannou said.
Kamaru Usman and Francis Ngannou along with middleweight champion Israel Adesanya have emerged as top UFC fighters who hail from the continent of Africa. The trio have been vocal supporters of each other in their quest to become UFC champions, leaving a prominent African footprint in the sport. In addition to preparing Ngannou for Stipe Miocic's wrestling game, Kamaru Usman's association with the Cameroon native is a gesture of solidarity. The Nigerian nightmare is scheduled to defend his welterweight title against Jorge Masvidal four weeks after UFC 260 and his decision to help Ngannou's hunt for UFC gold speaks for itself.
Kamaru Usman will potentially solve a major flaw in Francis Ngannou's corner at UFC 260
Francis Ngannou's first crack at the UFC title ended in a lopsided unanimous decision loss to champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 220 in January 2018. Although The Predator had the power advantage in the fight, Miocic displayed an overall better technical game to strip Ngannou of his most potent weapons with effective use of striking and grappling.
The MMA community heavily criticized Ngannou's team for not having a grappling coach in his corner during the fight as none of the corner advice in between the rounds could help Francis Ngannou answer the takedown attempts from the champ. Kamaru Usman's presence in Ngannou's corner at UFC 260 solves this issue and increases the Predator's chances of becoming the champion.
Francis Ngannou and Stipe Miocic will meet in the headliner of the UFC 260 PPV event on March 27. 2021. The event will take place at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas Nevada and will be co-headlined by the featherweight title fight between champion Alexander Volkanovski and the resurgent Brian Ortega.