UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou’s trainer Eric Niksic shared his feelings on working with his fighter’s punching power on The MMA Hour.
“I got hit on the back with a baseball bat once. I didn’t really feel it. But when Francis’ lowkit arrived, I couldn’t walk for two weeks. When he hits low kicks or middle kicks through the paws, the paws begin to sort of diverge in the middle, fall apart. This is inhuman strength. There is no single way to train such punching power.
– What’s the story with the bat?
– An old student story … A fight broke out, one guy, saving his friend, loaded me along the back with a wooden bat. I knocked down his friend and scored well with my elbows, he ran up and cracked the bat on the back. She broke in half.
– How did he react when he saw that the bat was broken, and what would you like?
He dropped the piece and ran to his car. I rushed after him, managed to break the glass with my fist … Because of this story, there were problems later (laughs).
Ngannou will face Cyril Gan on January 22 at UFC 270 in Anaheim.
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