Francis Ngannou has knockout power that snaps back heads like Pez dispensers and earned him comparisons to Mike Tyson in his ferocious heyday.
Ngannou has stood tall against all opposition in his UFC career and his terrifying run has shaped the challenger into the betting favourite in the heavyweight champion bout against Stipe Miocic.
He's not afraid to go face-to-face with anyone - even against his fellow Cameroon native, Philadelphia 76ers centre Joel Embiid. Ngannou, 6-foot-4, 250 pounds, was absolutely dwarfed by the 7-2 Embiid in a visit on Thursday morning at Sixers shootaround.
Ngannou was ready to pull on his MMA gloves.
"He should be my next opponent," Ngannou said.
"I think I'd kick his ass," Embiid said, laughing.
Embiid pulled in Ngannou for a bro hug and predicted the No.1 contender would win by knockout in the second round.
"That's a good prediction," Ngannou said.
It would also be a long night of work for Ngannou. The 31-year-old (11-1) hasn't needed to go beyond the first round in any of his past four bouts and has never gone past the second in his 12 pro fights.
Knock out Miocic and Ngannou would complete the made-for-movies tale of homeless to heavyweight champ and position himself as perhaps UFC's most dominant big man since Brock Lesnar.
Ngannou fights just seven weeks after his stunning victory of Alistair Overeem at UFC 218 on a left uppercut that rolled the eyes of the fallen foe to the back of his head. The crushing KO has been replayed in perpetuity to hype Saturday's fight.
At Fenway Park, the heavy hitter said he can't escape the clip of his biggest swing.
"Any time I open my email, my Instagram, my story, people send it to me in different versions," Ngannou said. "I think I did very well. It was all about to connect. And I connected."
Blink and you might miss the crowning of a new champ.
Ngannou left Cameroon for Paris, where he originally slept on the streets. His family is still in Cameroon and he wanted his mother and a 17-year-old brother to join him and live in the United States.
Up first, a shot at the title.
Standing in his way is Miocic (17-2), who has a date with heavyweight history and will set the UFC record for consecutive title defences in the division at three with a victory.
Ngannou has one plan - for that UFC title to get wrapped around his waist.
"Life beat me up a lot of times," Ngannou said, "and I want to take my revenge."
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