Francis Ngannou training with GLORY champ Rico Verhoeven for UFC 270 title fight

UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is now training with Rico Verhoeven, which makes me think of that biblical proverb that claims iron sharpens iron. Metallurgists, however, insist that grinding two pieces of iron together just creates a lot of heat and friction, which may explain all those rash guards at the gym.

Point being, the GLORY heavyweight kickboxing champion was hired to help “The Predator” train for his most difficult test to date: a five-round headliner against cerebral assassin Ciryl Gane, a technical striker who remains undefeated in 10 trips to the cage. They’ll go to war in the UFC 270 headliner in January.

Verhoeven has won 15 straight fights and recently stopped Jamal Ben Saddik at GLORY “Collision 3” in the Netherlands. He was expected to battle UFC export Alistair Overeem; however, “Demolition Man” was subsequently injured and forced to withdraw. Ngannou, meanwhile, is coming off a second-round destruction of Stipe Miocic last March.

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