Francis Ngannou is one of the most terrifying heavyweights of this generation. While he is mostly seen as a nice guy outside the octagon his sparring sessions have come under scrutiny after an ex-training partner of his accused him of being a dangerous sparring partner.
This claim was made by Denis Goltsov, a Russian sambo practitioner and MMA heavyweight currently signed to the PFL. During an interview with Ushatayka, a Russian combat sports media platform that covers both MMA and boxing, Goltsov detailed his experience sparring with Ngannou.
The Russian suggested that he came across Nagannou when he was in Atlantic City and Las Vegas and sought training partners from the Xtreme Couture gym. He said:
"He kind of works [tough], yes. He doesn't know how to work. Let's just say he works the same regardless of the weight category, even if it's a women's category."
He added:
"When there is training or sparring there, [during] the fight, people are on the ground fighting with him, [if] a triangle is fastened on him [and] he understands that there is no way out of there, he begins to simply beat the person. Well, I think that this says a lot about the person, about his personal qualities."
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