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Teddy Atlas once shared a video of himself training Francis Ngannou, on his YouTube channel.
In the video, the two are seen perfecting Ngannou's uppercuts back in September 2020, ahead of his title rematch with Stipe Miocic in March 2021.
The renowned boxing trainer is very detailed with his pointers:
"That's it. Stop, just the uppercut. There it is again... That's how you snap it. Now, get involved and then throw that. All right? Don't stand up. Being tall is nice except when you are tall right in front of a guy. Then it's not so nice. You know why? You're a big building with windows and some people like to break the windows."
Watch Teddy Atlas giving tips to Francis Ngannou below:
Francis Ngannou has one fight left on his current UFC deal and there have been issues in signing an extension
Francis Ngannou will square off against interim heavyweight titleholder Ciryl Gane in a unification bout at UFC 270 on January 22, 2022.
The fight with Gane is the last on his current UFC deal, and there have been issues about agreeing to an extension. There is reportedly a clause where UFC champions have their contract extended by one fight every time they successfully defend their title.
The UFC reportedly wanted Ngannou to put his belt on the line at UFC 265 in August, but the Cameroonian declined. Thus, an interim championship encounter between Gane and Derrick Lewis was set on that date. 'The Predator' was apparently unhappy with this development.
However, speaking to MMA Junkie recently, Ngannou revealed that he is ignoring all distractions and is fully focused on defeating his former training partner:
"The situation is what it is... At the end of the day, I am not allowed to get distracted by anything. You know he would be on me if I get something wrong because I was distracted by all the things around. I signed up for this fight, so I better take it seriously and focus on it. It doesn't matter what happens on the side. We are gonna deal with it afterwards."
Watch Francis Ngannou in conversation with MMA journalist Mike Bohn below:
Francis Ngannou made his UFC debut in December 2015. He went on a six-fight win streak before losing to Stipe Miocic and Derrick Lewis in back-to back fights, both via unanimous decision. Since his defeat to Lewis, 'The Predator' has rebounded with a five-fight win streak, including the knockout of Miocic in their rematch to win the heavyweight gold.
In the UFC’s first pay-per-view event of 2022, Francis Ngannou will defend his undisputed heavyweight title for the first time against former teammate Ciryl Gane. The undefeated Frenchman is seen as genuine threat to ‘The Predator’ with current UFC fighters Aleksandar Rakic and Anthony Joshua picking Gane to win the matchup.
