Francis Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champion, has given Sean Strickland a surprising endorsement despite the middleweight fighter’s notorious reputation for being a troublemaker. Strickland, known for his controversial comments and unprovoked aggressive sparring sessions is a problem for many but for Ngannou, Strickland brings great value to any training team.
Ngannou believes despite his rough edges, Strickland’s work ethic and intensity make him a great addition to any camp. In a recent interview, the former champion backed his teammate saying,
“I have trained with Sean (Strickland) I mean he is a unique type of guy. He is very good team player always gives everyone that needs around. In his own way he is doing it but he is good team player.”
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At this point in time, Strickland has not had a falling out with Xtreme Couture, where he trains with Ngannou, and is not looking to move elsewhere to train.
However, if such an incident did occur, ‘Tarzan’ will be relieved to know he has the backing of the Cameroonian.
Interestingly, for his upcoming fight against Ferreira, Ngannou will not be training in Las Vegas, a city he has called home for the past few years.
Instead, his coach, Eric Nicsick will join him in Paris where the duo will be hoping to bounce back into the win column after their recent devastating loss to Anthony Joshua albeit in the world of boxing.
‘The Predator’ will be making his debut with the PFL in a few weeks’ time after signing a huge contract and deflecting from the UFC in May 2023, something his former boss Dana White remains salty about.
Ngannou bashes Dana White’s false claims
Ngannou has fired back at White’s claims that he would’ve made more money by staying with the UFC instead of venturing into boxing. After leaving the UFC in 2023, Ngannou landed major boxing bouts, his first two fights being highly anticipated bouts with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
Ngannou revealed that his earnings from these boxing matches surpassed what he made in all 13 UFC fights combined. He also mentioned that UFC had offered him $8 million to fight Jon Jones, but he left due to the restrictive nature of their contracts.
White recently called these claims of having made more money from boxing “total bulls*it,” but Ngannou disagrees.
“Unless Dana was the one writing my checks, I don’t know how he would know that.”
Ngannou also hinted at White’s changing stance on cross-promotion with Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Season, pointing at the UFC’s partnership with the oil merchants after White had long criticized boxing for doing the same.
