Tyron Woodley discusses training with Francis Ngannou: He made me feel like my “nose is gonna break”

Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley recently did a bit of training with Francis Ngannou, and he seems to be pretty blown away by the heavyweight contender’s sheer strength.

Ngannou, currently the No. 1 contender in the UFC heavyweight division, is widely viewed as one of the hardest hitters in mixed martial arts history—maybe the hardest hitter outright.

Woodley, who boasts plenty of power himself, recently spent some time on the mats with Ngannou, and was flabbergasted by the force the heavyweight produced.

“I was just in a gym with Ngannou and he was working on some single leg [takedowns],” Woodley told Helen Yee of Ngannou (transcribed by Essentially Sports). “He like grabbed his leg and his strength and his power—he didn’t even really quite grasp it—and I noticed how f*cking strong he is.

“I don’t know what I would do [against him] because I never felt nobody just put that much [pressure on] my face and make me feel like my nose is gonna break,” Woodley added.

Tyron Woodley ruled over the UFC welterweight division for money years, but is now riding a tough, three-fight losing streak, with recent setbacks against top-five welterweights in Colby Covington, Gilbert Burns, and Kamaru Usman. Prior to that, he was riding impressive victories over Darren Till, Demian Maia, Stephen Thompson, Robbie Lawler, Kelvin Gastelum and Dong Hyun Kim. Woodley will look to get back to winning ways when he takes on Vicente Luque at UFC 260 on March 27.

Francis Ngannou will also return to action at UFC 260. He’ll challenge Stipe Miocic for the UFC heavyweight title in the card’s main event. He’ll enter that title fight with knockout wins over Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Junior dos Santos, Cain Velasquez and Curtis Blaydes in the rear-view mirror.

What do you think of this story from Tyron Woodley? Do you think Francis Ngannou will become the UFC heavyweight champ at UFC 260? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.