'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
UFC heavyweight Francis Ngannou loves to train and usually spends a lot of time grinding it out in the gym but his training camp ahead of the upcoming blockbuster pay-per-view UFC 249 has been one of the longest camps in his entire career as a professional fighter.
However, it wasn't planned. Here's how things unfolded. Ngannou was initially scheduled to face Jairzinho Rozenstruik on March 28 in the headliner of UFC on ESPN 8 and he started preparing for a full fledged five-round war.
Unfortunately, the card had to be postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the fight between Ngannou and Rozenstruik was pushed to April 18, the original date for UFC 249. We all know what followed next. A week before the show, UFC president Dana White announced that UFC 249 is being postponed to May 9.
Ngannou kept himself ready through all the uncertainty, prepared to step inside the Octagon and put up a show whenever the matchmakers came calling. Speaking to MMA Fighting, the knockout artist stated that he is craving for this fight to finally happen because of the amount of time he invested preparing for it.
“It’s been very exhausting, very frustrating. It’s been very hard to keep motivation and go out there everyday. Go out there and train without knowing if the fight is going to happen. [You’re] always suspicious – maybe it’s going to happen or not, and to keep the same intensity for the fight. When you train for a fight it’s different than just training to stay in shape. So even when you don’t have that target, that goal, you still have to be motivated to go. That’s the hard part of it.”
Ngannou promises a KO
Ngannou hopes that his hard work will bear fruit come May 9th, when he finally gets to put his hands on Rozenstruik, on the former's return to the Octagon after almost a year long absence. Ngannou predicted the fight, saying he has already visualized putting Rozenstruik to sleep a hundred times and believes he will make his dreams come true inside the Octagon at UFC 249.
“Every time that I think about it. That’s the only way that it could end.”
