In an intriguing move, UFC welterweightKhamzat Chimaev has proposed a challenge to former UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou, for an unarmed combat grappling superfight outside of the UFC.
Despite the substantial size difference between the two fighters, ‘Borz’ Chimaev took to social media and called out ‘The Predator’ for a potential showdown.
Chimaev, who weighs nearly 100 pounds less than Ngannou, was last seen fighting in the octagon back in September of last year against Kevin Holland at UFC 279 where he gave an impressive Grappling clinic completely ragdolling Holland.
Ngannou’s final appearance in the UFC was against Ciryl Gane in January last year, where he impressed with his much improved grappling.
In this rolling session at his academy in Cameroon, Ngannou is rolling with British bjj black belt Sam Crook who has done and better is teaching for free children and adults Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Grappling in the town of Batie, in Cameroun at the Francis Ngannou foundation.
British Black Belt Sam Crook Teaches BJJ at Francis Ngannou Foundation in Cameroon For Free
Crook stated:
“Getting almost crushed to death with a 50kg weight difference 😶
Thanks Francis for not actually killing me 😂👍
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Chimaev’s grappling pedigree
Neil Magny is one of the rare fighters that has been asking to fight Khamzat Chimaev for the past few years and he got to taste what that would feel like back in November.
Khamzat Chimaev and Neil Magny’s paths crossed at the famous Renzo Gracie academy. The pair engaged in a grappling training session. Magny is BJJ brown belt and Chimaev is technically a BJJ purple belt with a lifetime of Wrestling under his belt.
Around the 4-minute mark of the now deleted video, you can see Magny and Chimaev grappling together.
The Chechen wolf Chimaev was able to tap Magny with a mounted triangle.
Magny talked about the experience of grappling with Chimaev Magny on The MMA Hour:
“We had the opportunity to train in New York and the guy is definitely the real deal. The best way I can explain it is like, I f***** around and found out. Khamzat is definitely the real deal.”
“I went in there thinking, ‘Oh, here’s this sweet little wolf that I can train with in jiu-jitsu,’ and then things got real, real fast. There’s more hats to the guy, more so realizing, damn, this guy is actually the real deal. He’s not a fighter or fight I can take lightly at all. If I’m being honest, had I got that fight early on, I might have set myself up for failure, looking past him a little bit.”
“Initially there wasn’t any tense moments at all, it was just an opportunity where it was like, ‘I’m here to train, you’re here to train,’ it was very respectful, going through the motions, not super competitive.”
“But that escalated very quickly. It went from that to a full on grappling match, getting slammed, all this kind of crazy stuff. So yeah, it definitely escalated quickly there.”
“There’s a video out there so I can’t even deny it, he definitely got the best of me that training session. Like I said, I f***** around and found out, and I definitely found out the hard way. ‘Oh yeah, sweet little wolf, here we go, we’re just playing around,’ and that wolf definitely bit, and I was like, ‘Oh crap, I was not expecting that.’
A few months prior, Chimaev displayed his wrestling prowess when he defeated Jack Hermansson in freestyle wrestling.
Ngannou’s Next Move
After parting ways with UFC, Ngannou has been searching for a new promotion to sign with. Most recently, the former heavyweight champion had negotiations with the CEO of ONE Championship, Chatri Sityodtong.
Despite being unable to come to terms with ONE Championship, it seems like Ngannou has found a new home.
