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Francis Ngannou will be seen cornering Kamaru Usman in Jacksonville at UFC 261. The heavyweight champion will serve as a cornerman, replacing Kamaru Usman's brother, Mohammed Usman.
Ahead of his upcoming title defense at UFC 261, Kamaru Usman had a chat with ESPN's Marc Raimondi. The welterweight champion stated that Mohammed, who currently fights in the PFL (Professional Fighters League), has to undergo a seventeen-day long quarantine leading up to his promotional debut on May 6.
The Nigerian-born champion turned to fellow African champion Francis Ngannou to corner him on April 24.
"Yes, he will be in my corner. Unfortunately, my brother is not able to go to this fight, which is just silly to me that the PFL is doing a seventeen-day quarantine. Who better to replace him than the heavyweight champion himself -- Francis Nganonu.
Eddie Alvarez was one of Kamaru Usman's cornermen in the welterweight champ's last title defense at UFC 258. The former lightweight champion, however, won't be making the walk at UFC 261 as he is currently preoccupied.
Eddie [Alvarez] won't be in my corner. Eddie's also preparing for something as well. Unfortunately, he won't be in my corner... these are the guys that I would definitely ask to be in my corner because these are the guys I respect so much. I trust their opinion. And, their energy just synchronizes with mine when it's time to go out there and rumble."
Kamaru Usman was present in Francis Ngannou's corner at UFC 260
To elevate his grappling acumen, Francis Ngannou roped in Kamaru Usman for his UFC 260 training camp. The welterweight champion, who claims to share camaraderie with the Cameroonian, readily agreed and was present at UFC 260 as one of Ngannou's cornermen.
"For him, having me in his corner, I think it's one of those things cause I'm where we all want to be. We are all chasing after this goal: to have the gold. I know what it's doing for the rest of the kids that come from circumstances that we come from. And Francis is right there at that door. And it's good energy, good vibes every time we're around each other," said Usman.
Francis Ngannou's refined ground game was on full display at UFC 260. The Predator not only stuffed Stipe Miocic's takedown attempts but also proceeded to take the Cleveland State wrestler's back. This could be attributed to Kamaru Usman's addition to Ngnanou's training camp.
