Francis Ngannou reveals Kamaru Usman did not train for UFC 286 against Leon Edwards due to injuries

By Cole Shelton - March 21, 2023

Francis Ngannou claims Kamaru Usman wasn’t able to train for his UFC 286 trilogy match against Leon Edwards due to injuries.

Kamaru Usman, Francis Ngannou

Usman was looking to reclaim the belt back after Edwards scored a fifth-round head kick KO over him back in August. It was a massive comeback and with that, the two were running it back for the third time in a fight many thought Usman would win.

Ultimately, it was Edwards who controlled the fight and won a majority decision. It was a great performance from the Brit, and after the loss, Ngannou spoke on his YouTube channel and revealed Usman wasn’t able to train due to injuries.

“Usually when people get knocked out, they don’t come back in the fight. Like, they will be like wobbly, he [Usman] was there before tonight which is like a lot of steps back. I know that he didn’t train, he didn’t have to train properly because of a lot of injuries, but he was there,” Ngannou said (via MMANews).

Whether or not that was the case is uncertain, but on the UFC countdown and embedded videos, Usman was seen training. But perhaps he wasn’t able to train as much or as hard as he wanted due to an injury that Francis Ngannou is aware of.

Of course, before the UFC 286 fight was official, Kamaru Usman was seen wearing a hand brace and he has been vocal about how bad his knees are. Yet, even with him being banged up, he thought he won and is confident he will be able to work his way back to a fourth fight and reclaim his title again.

As for Ngannou, he is currently a free agent but is in negotiations to box Deontay Wilder. After that, he plans to return to MMA and revealed ONE Championship and PFL are both in the mix.

What do you make of Francis Ngannou saying Kamaru Usman didn’t train for his UFC 286 fight?

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


Topics:

Francis Ngannou Kamaru Usman UFC