Watch: Francis Ngannou playfully chokes out reporter ahead of UFC 260
Francis Ngannou lives up to his 'The Predator' nickname every time he is inside the octagon. However, outside the cage, he can be quite funny and humorous as well.
Sparring with BT Sport reporter Adam Catterall, Francis Ngannou playfully held him down on the mat and choked him in a submission attempt until Catterall tapped out. Adam Catterall shared the video recently once again, ahead of Francis Ngannou's heavyweight title fight against champion Stipe Miocic.
Watch the video below:
Fun and games aside, it was because of his ground game that Francis Ngannou fell short he first faced Stipe Miocic back in 2018. Going up against the champion at UFC 220, Francis Ngannou looked completely exhausted after several takedowns by Stipe Miocic. He is looking to turn the tables this time around.
Francis Ngannou: "Kamaru Usman is gonna be in my corner"
Francis Ngannou clearly lost the fight to Stipe Miocic's ground game last time, he has no intention of repeating the same mistake. He revealed in the third episode of his training camp vlog that Kamaru Usman will be cornering him at UFC 260:
"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."
Kamaru Usman is widely known to be one of the most dominant wrestlers in UFC at the moment. He himself is set to defend his welterweight title against Jorge Masvidal in the next UFC pay-per-view. He went through Gilbert Burns in his most recent bout. If he retains his title against 'Gamebred', Kamaru Usman will be the sole owner of the second longest winning streak in UFC at 14 consecutive wins, right behind Anderson's Silva's 16 victories in a row.
If Francis Ngannou manages to pick up the UFC heavyweight title at UFC 260, he will become the third African-born fighter to hold a championship in UFC after Kamaru Usman himself and the middleweight king Israel Adesanya.