UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou’s Workout Will Wreck You | Men's Health Magazine Australia

UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou’s Workout Will Wreck You

Newly crowned UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is the ultimate self-made man. Just eight years ago he was homeless. Now the Cameroonian is the scariest man in Mixed Martial Arts and the fighter many are now calling the New ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’, a moniker ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson made famous in the ’80s and ’90s.

Ngannou, 16-3 in the UFC, destroyed Stipe Miocic (20-4) at UFC 260 in Las Vegas on the weekend, continuing his run of devastating knockouts with possibly his most brutal yet. A crushing left hook quickly followed with a hammer-fist left Miocic out cold at the 52-second mark of the second round. With the victory Ngannou squared the ledger with Miocic who had dominated the pair’s first bout back in 2018. 

The big question now is who Ngannou will fight next? He and Miocic could choose to complete their trilogy. But the bigger prize is UFC GOAT, Jon ‘Bones’ Jones, who’s planning a move up from light-heavyweight to challenge Ngannou. After watching Ngannou’s victory Jones tweeted, “Show me the money”. The prospect of Jones V Ngannou is mouth-watering to say the least and a guaranteed pay-per-view bonanza for the UFC.

In the meantime, we decided to go back and look at the regimen that helped Ngannou get in such jaw-dropping shape. 

This upper-body, garage-style workout is not for the faint-hearted – the warm-up comprises 120 clap push-ups, a movement that contributes heavily to Ngannou’s thrilling punching power.

From there he moves into decline push-ups. Tap out here if you need to!

Next up is dips, followed by narrow push-ups, before the champ ends with an eviscerating burpee complex. 

What’s notable about the workout is the volume – 4 sets of 30 or 120 reps for each exercise – brutal! But it’s this type of loading that helps forge the muscular endurance that allows Ngannou to keep coming and physically overwhelm opponents in the later rounds of a bout . . . if they get that far.

The Workout

Clap push-ups (4×30)

Decline push-ups (4×30)

Dips (4×30)

Narrow push-ups (4×30)

Burpees (4×30)

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