It would appear that Anthony Johnson has respect for Francis Ngannou’s striking game, even before the heavyweight’s most recent knockout performance.
Anthony Johnson is a former title challenger in the UFC light heavyweight division. Throughout his MMA career, the knockout artist has gone on to fight some of the toughest fighters in the division. With that in mind, Johnson announced his retirement following a failed title shot against Daniel Cormier at UFC 210.
Since then, the knockout artist has been in talks with the UFC about a possible return to the octagon within the heavyweight division.
Now a video back from 2016, as provided by The Mac Life, has revealed “Rumble” Johnson’s thoughts on Francis Ngannou. Back when Johnson was preparing to face off against Daniel Cormier, “Rumble” did a little sparring with Ngannou. As it turns out, Johnson believes that Ngannou is the hardest hitting fighter he has ever faced inside the gym.
Check out Johnson’s full thoughts in the video below:
Francis Ngannou most recently shocked the world with a stunning knockout victory at UFC 218. The world’s most famous mixed martial arts promotion was in Detroit, Michigan for the exciting night of fights. There inside the Little Caesars Arena, Francis Ngannou and Alistair Overeem put on a heavyweight war for the night’s co-headliner.
Overeem was on a two fight winning streak going into the event, with wins over the likes of Mark Hunt and former heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum. But Ngannou had yet to be defeated inside the octagon, as the fighter was on an impressive nine fight winning streak with five of his wins coming from under the UFC banner.
At UFC 218, Ngannou earned a devestating first round knockout victory over the former K-1 Grand Prix champion. UFC President Dana White has since revealed that Ngannou will now be fighting for the title against reigning heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic.
