“I F*cked Francis Up”- Sean Strickland Shares His Experience of Sparring Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou

Francis Ngannou is an absolute beast of a fighter. He certainly does justice to his moniker, the Predator. He is currently the reigning UFC heavyweight champion. We know Ngannou for packing the most powerful punch in the promotion. 

Recently, middleweight fighter Sean Strickland shared his experience after sparring with the Cameroonian champion. Strickland spoke to Helen Yee and joked about “f*cking” Francis Ngannou up while sparring with him. 

He said,” you know I would like to think that I fucked Francis up. But, I really think that he’s very nice to me. But I fucked Francis up (laughs).”

He said,” No, no, Francis, he’s actually he’s a good dude man. I was actually sparring with him the other day and I told Francis like, Francis, you’ve never experienced any this in your life. But when I spar you and you’re throwing punches at me, like I genuinely have fear. You’ve probably never felt that in your life, looking at the man.”

READ MORE: ‘I Do Not Sign a New Deal’- Francis Ngannou Says He Has Been pressured for a UFC contract extension.  

“But Francis is a great guy, you know, like he throws hard. I trust him not to hurt me. And anytime he wants to fucking bang dude, I welcome it,“ he added. 

Sean Strickland is currently seventh in the UFC’s middleweight rankings. He will take on Jack Hermansson in February 2022 in his next bout. The fighter was previously going to fight Luke Rockhold in November, but because of injuries, Rockhold had to withdraw. 

What’s next for Francis Ngannou?

Francis Ngannou will take on his former teammate, now turned rival, Ciryl Gane, at the upcoming event of UFC 270 on the 22nd of January, 2022. Gane and Ngannou will fight each other to unify the UFC heavyweight championship title. Gane is currently the interim heavyweight champion.

Both fighters were longtime teammates at the MMA Factory gym in France, and they both trained under Fernand Lopez. Ngannou left the gym following a dispute with Lopez and ever since then, the bad blood between Gane and Ngannou just seems to increase.

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Who do you think will walk away with the title at the upcoming event of UFC 271? Please let us know in the comments section below.