"He touches me once and I will go to dreamland!" - Sean Strickland on sparring with Francis Ngannou
Sean Strickland has explained the intrigue behind sparring with Francis Ngannou in the gym.
Throughout the course of UFC history, few heavyweights - or fighters in general - have been as universally feared as Francis Ngannou. 'The Predator' has knocked out some of the best in the game. Last year, he knocked Stipe Miocic out cold to become the new UFC heavyweight champion.
His legacy has already been secured but, as is the case with anyone on his level, he's always looking to improve.
There are many people at his gym who want to help him do that and one of them is UFC middleweight Sean Strickland:
"Everyone ask me how do I do with francious lol!! I will tell you that I do really well with him with 16 Gloves in the GYM lol!!! bottom line is you put 4 ounce gloves on him in a FIGHT and he touches me once and I will go to dreamland!!!! LOL"
Everyone ask me how do I do with francious lol!! I will tell you that I do really well with him with 16 Gloves in the GYM lol!!! bottom line is you put 4 ounce gloves on him in a FIGHT and he touches me once and I will go to dreamland!!!! LOL
We've all heard Sean Strickland say some fairly outrageous things since his rise to prominence in the middleweight division. Saying he enjoys training with Francis Ngannou is as chaotic as we've come to expect from 'Tarzan'.
What's next for Francis Ngannou?
If Francis Ngannou wants to be remembered as one of the great UFC heavyweight kings, he needs to start defending the strap. Later this month, he'll attempt to do that successfully for the first time when he goes up against Ciryl Gane.
The former teammates will duke it out at UFC 270. It is the final fight on Francis Ngannou's current UFC contract. It's not yet known whether or not he's going to carry on with the promotion after this. However, one thing is for sure - the mark he's left on the division is going to be remembered for a long time.
If Ngannou is able to get past Gane, which is a big ask in itself, he'll likely have Jon Jones waiting for him in one of the biggest fights the UFC could produce this year.