Magomed Ankalaev details sparring session with "aggressive" Francis Ngannou, claims he took 'The Predator' down

Magomed Ankalaev recently opened up about a training session with Francis Ngannou. Ankalaev revealed that he sparred with Ngannou previously and even claimed to have taken down the former UFC heavyweight champion.

Ngannou is arguably the most devastating puncher in mixed martial arts. Out of his 12 victories in the UFC, 10 were knockouts. He notably had one submission win in the promotion and utilized wrestling effectively in his title defense against Ciryl Gane, which was his final octagon outing. Nevertheless, 'The Predator' is primarily known for his power.

In a recent interview with Aslanbek Badaev, Magomed had this to say about his experience of training with Ngannou. The Dagestani revealed that the current PFL fighter tried to drop him and even delved into the reason why, saying:

''Initially, we stood up, I saw that [Ngannou] wanted to drop me. He was generally aggressive. I quickly went to his feet, put him down and held him. I was waiting for the time to run out so I could say, 'Don't come near me again.' Then we found out the reason: it turns out he is a friend of [Dalcha] Lungiambula whom I had knocked out before. And then we talked to him, one might say, we became friends.''

Check out Magomed Ankalaev's comments below:

Magomed is likely next in line for a title shot against UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, a renowned knockout artist just like Ngannou. He has offered to avoid takedowns for the first three rounds in hopes of securing a championship opportunity.

''@AlexPereiraUFC I will make a deal. First 15 minutes no takedowns. @Mickmaynard2 @danawhite''

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Magomed Ankalaev vows to knock out Alex Pereira

Magomed Ankalaev is coming for Alex Pereira's head. The Russian 205-pounder has been regularly calling for a fight against 'Poatan' since the champion's title defense at UFC 303. As seen in the X post above, he has already offered not to use his obvious wrestling advantage in the first 15 minutes.

In another post, Ankalaev vowed to knock out Pereira, writing:

''End of the year he’ll be laying on his back looking at the light and ask his corner, are we back in Brazil this is a promise. I will knock him out.''