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Add Francis Ngannou to the list of UFC 249 fighters looking ridiculously ripped right now

We’ve never seen ‘The Predator’ in better shape than he’s looking for his fight with rising contender Jairzinho Rozenstruik at UFC 249.

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Francis Ngannou - Twitter

Henry Cejudo isn’t the only fighter looking absolutely jacked leading into UFC 249 this Saturday (May 9, 2020).

Francis Ngannou may not be fighting Jairzinho Rozenstruik for the Heavyweight (or interim) title, but it looks like he’s taken his training to championship levels regardless. We’ve wondered how in or out of shape many fighters will be as UFC returns to action, and in Ngannou’s case he’s used the nearly two-month quarantine period to get completely shredded.

“The Predator” shared this image on social media:

People following his Twitter account have noted just how ripped Francis is looking in the past couple of weeks.

Ngannou showed off the practical side of his strength recently with a video where he lifted the 330-pound Shaq above his head with ease. We’ll see how that translates into the cage against the 250-pound “Bigi Boy” Rozenstruik, who comes into their fight undefeated with four knockouts in four UFC fights.

Ngannou is on his own impressive streak as well. After dropping back-to-back losses to champ Stipe Miocic and Derrick Lewis, “The Predator” has knocked out his past three opponents, all the more impressive considering his last two foes were Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos.

With UFC trying to clear out a backlog of headlining fights from canceled cards, Ngannou vs. Rozenstruik isn’t the main or even co-main event for UFC 249. Instead, it sits in the middle portion of the PPV card that has amazing fights like Cerrone vs. Pettis and Werdum vs. Oleynik on ESPN’s “Prelims” undercard.

Even with all the uncertainty at the top of the division with champ Miocic concentrating on his first responder duties and Daniel Cormier waiting in the wings, it’s hard to imagine an impressive performance from Ngannou or Rozenstruik not earning the winner a title shot.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 249 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN+/Fight Pass “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN+/ESPN at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 249: “Ferguson vs. Gaethje” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.

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