Francis Ngannou left Manchester United fans scared for their season after a viral clip showed him taking down goalkeeper Andre Onana.
The former UFC heavyweight champion was at Old Trafford to watch Manchester United defeat Bodo/Glimt 3-2 in the Europa League last night. And after the match, he met with his fellow Cameroonian Andre Onana for a photo op on the pitch.
However, viewers were worried when the massive 256lb star took his pal to the ground, and grappled with him while mimmicking punches. The goalkeeper is a vital player for United, and any sort of injury would leave the team in dire straits.
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Francis Ngannou grapples with Andre Onana in viral Manchester United clip
Iconic PFL champion Francis Ngannou was one of a number of guests of honor at Old Trafford last night as Manchester United eeked out a 3-2 win in Europe. And he was welcomed on to the pitch afterwards for a picture with Onana, who is also from Cameroon.
He told TNT Sports after the match: “It was a good game, we had fun, there was a lot of action. It was my first time here, good experience and then we have a victory. [Onana] had a great game even though he took a yellow card for free… He had a really good game, right? He was the man of the game.”
But it was what happened when the pair met that alarmed fans as they posed up for a seemingly innocent face-off. Ngannou then took Onana down and rolled around with him in a grappling exchange, before throwing some fake punches and eventually letting him up.
Ngannou is no stranger to football stars. He was joined in the dressing room by the legendary Cristiano Ronaldo for his PFL debut win against Renan Ferreira last month.
A similar incident took place at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium earlier this year when Conor McGregor got a little too close with a couple of kicks towards Bukayo Saka. An investigation was launched by the Premier League side after the fact, and new protocols enforced.
Fans are terrified after watching Francis Ngannou and Andre Onana
Viewers were left similarly concerned when video of the incident between Ngannou and Onana made it on to social media. A Manchester United fan account shared it to Tik Tok, with the clip going viral across platforms.
News page utdreport reposted the video to X, captioning it: “Francis Ngannou flattening Andre Onana at Old Trafford.” Fans in the comments were keen to laugh about the clip, but some were concerned that the club’s main goalkeeper may have suffered an injury.
“Breaking news Andre Onana is out for the next decade due to broken everything,” one joked, with another adding: “Francis, brother, I love you. But he is our only good gk pls.”
Others noted how impressive it was to see a man of Ngannou’s size, 6’4 and over 256lb, was able to pull off such a manoeuvre in a sleek and safe way. “Disturbing how smoothly Francis did that, for a dude his size,” one wrote. “Rolled off like a comfortable cat.”
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