Eddie Hall continues to train with the best before his MMA debut.
The former World’s Strongest Man recently visited the UFC Performance Institute and shocked everyone by breaking Alex Pereira’s punching record.
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During his trip to Las Vegas, Hall met Alexander Volkov, who is the No. 6 ranked UFC heavyweight and has fought Tom Aspinall, Derrick Lewis and many other MMA stars.
“The Beast” was able to test his world record punching power on Volkov, and on Tuesday he shared his training footage on his YouTube channel.
The two men started by hitting each other with body shots.
They lightly tapped and laughed throughout a friendly first round before deciding to step it up a gear in the second frame by introducing left-handed headshots.
“I’m already exhausted,” Hall admitted between rounds. “He’s just playing with me.” He could literally keep his distance and wear me out in a minute or two.
The 6-foot-7 Russian fighter, aptly nicknamed “Drago,” relentlessly came forward and poked his opponent’s face with his jab.
Volkov wasn’t putting any power into his strikes, so Hall was just eating a few to try to come back with big power shots, which he managed to land on occasion.
The third round was “anything goes” and was held at a high pace.
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Volkov happily sat in the pocket and traded with a man who weighed 31 stone at the peak of his strongman career.
Hall was throwing big shots and although he missed most of them, he caught Volkov on the chin with punches that would bring down lesser men.
Finally, the Englishman was happy to hear the final bell.
Hall said after the spar: “Thank you f*ck for that. Jesus!”
“F*** me!” I’m gassed. He just choked me. Did you see that he was constantly leaning on me, not allowing me to breathe?
“It was great. It was like I had this pressure on me the whole time. At no point could I breathe – he was just on me the whole time.
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Volkov was impressed by the power of the MMA newcomer.
He said: “You pack a hard punch. I felt it several times. You are quite dangerous.
Volkov is not the first high-profile MMA fighter Hall has fought.
Aspinall, who beat Volkov in March 2022, has shared the cage with him before.
Hall was supposed to put his MMA training to the test earlier this year against current World’s Strongest Man Mitchell Hooper in a four-way tournament also featuring Martyn Ford and Brian Shaw.
Unfortunately, the event was scrapped, but Hall is still training hard and practicing his best while waiting for a new fight date.
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