UFC light heavyweight contender Magomed Ankalaev has detailed an incident he had with former heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou when the two sparred each other.
The number-one-ranked UFC light heavyweight contender, Magomed Ankalaev is continuing to campaign for a title shot against the current champion, Alex Pereira.
Following ‘Poatan’s’ recent win over Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303, it seemed as though the Russian contender would be the next to attempt to dethrone the striker, and even Pereira has come to terms with that likely being the outcome.
Magomed Ankalaev details crazy sparring incident with Francis Ngannou
With the 32-year-old Russian being one of the most dominant wrestlers in the higher weight classes, he has previously trained with former heavyweight champ, Francis Ngannou, likely helping him with his wrestling.
Despite that, Ankalaev has detailed a crazy session he shared with the ‘aggressive’ Ngannou, claiming that ‘The Predator’ was attempting to knock him out.
Ngannou is one of the most devastating punchers in combat sports history and if it wasn’t for Ankalaev’s wrestling prowess, he may have become victim to that.
“Initially we stood up, and I saw that (Ngannou) wanted to drop me. He was generally aggressive,” Ankalaev told Aslanbek Badaev.
“I quickly went to his feet, put him down, and held him. I was waiting for the time to run out so I could say ‘Don’t come near me again’. Then we found out the reason (why he was trying to knock me out). It turns out he is a friend of (Dalcha) Lungiambula whom I had knocked out before,” the Russian explained.
Back in 2019, Ankalaev knocked Dalcha Lungiambula out with a front kick, with the Russian believing this was the reason why Ngannou wanted to make him pay during their sparring session.
Fortunately, the two settled their differences after the session.
“And then we talked to him, one might say, we became friends,” Ankalaev stated.
Ankalaev believes Alex Pereira won’t touch him at all in a potential fight
It’s fair to say the Russian is confident ahead of a potential clash against Alex Pereira, and fairly so considering his wrestling and grappling advantage.
Despite that, the 32-year-old believes ‘Poatan’ won’t touch him ‘at all’ when they eventually fight each other.
The 37-year-old champion has recently stated that he would like to fight once more before the end of the year but has also hinted at a possible move up to heavyweight.
However, he has stated that he will likely defend his light heavyweight title again before he potentially attempts to set a new UFC record, by becoming the first fighter to win a title in three separate weight classes.