Francis Ngannou Will Have Kamaru Usman in Corner for UFC 260 Title Bout

There will be a strong African connection on one side of the Octagon in the UFC 260 main event.

Francis Ngannou revealed on his YouTube channel that welterweight champion Kamaru Usman will be in his corner for the heavyweight championship rematch against Stipe Miocic on March 27. Ngannou was born in Cameroon, while Usman is originally from Nigeria.

“Kamaru Usman is gonna be in my corner for this fight,” Ngannou said in the video. “So it’s good having him here, helping me out with the fight. By this time you need everything. Basically, he’s gonna be in my corner and it’s good for him to train where I am and to bring his own asset into the game to help because this is a very decisive moment leading up to the fight. It’s very important to get with him, he’s gonna be in my corner helping me with my wrestling, which is great.”

Ngannou lost a five-round decision to Miocic in their first meeting at UFC 220 in January 2018. In that contest, Miocic landed six takedowns and gradually wore down his opponent over the course of a 25-minute affair. After a lackluster showing in a subsequent outing against Derrick Lewis, Ngannou has regained his mojo, winning four straight fights in 71 seconds or less.

Usman, meanwhile, is coming off a third-round TKO of Gilbert Burns in a title defense at UFC 258 on Feb. 13. He will return to action in a rematch against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261 on April 24.

UFC 260 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and airs on pay-per-view via ESPN+. In the co-main event, Alexander Volkanovski will defend the featherweight crown against Brian Ortega.

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