UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has admitted he felt nervous punching Jackass star Ehren McGhehey in the groin for a stunt in their new movie.
The heavy-hitting MMA star was brought onto the set of the new film, which is released today in cinemas, as part of a prank on McGhehey, who goes by the nickname 'danger'.
He was told that as a "cup test", he would be punched in the groin by a UFC star, expected to come from the lightweight division where fighters weigh around 155lb.
But he was stunned when Ngannou, the 6-foot-4 heavyweight who last weighed in at 257lb, showed up as the man performing the stunt.
Ngannou's punches are said to be the equivalent of a massive 96 horsepower, which is approximately the same amount of force as being hit by a Ford Escort going at full speed.
And McGhehey was forced to take the shot twice when directors didn't get the right angle in their first take.
“They set him up," Ngannou explained in a video on his YouTube channel. "I think these people, they are crazy...
"He was surprised - you could just see on his face like, damn, but everything was there, and he couldn’t go back anymore.”
The UFC star, who is currently battling with the promotion over his contract situation, wasn't aware of the iconic MTV show, which originally aired from 2000-2002.
And he assumed that he would be faking the punch in a way where the cameras could trick the audience.
So the Cameroonian was stunned when he learned that the TV stuntman was going to legitimately take a shot to the nether regions for the film.
He joked that making McGhehey watch him hit the bag before throwing the punch was "torture", but that once they were on set there was no backing out.
“It’s intimidating," Ngannou said. "You know that the guy is going to hit you in the nuts, and you see him hit the bag and that is kind of like torturing
“I hit full force. I mean, I was nervous, though. I’m like, what’s gonna happen?
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"The first time he moved, so they were like 'he didn't get hit in the nuts' so I had to do it a second time.
"I never hit somebody in the nuts, it took him back - he survived though!
"I didn't know that it was real, I thought that I was going to go there and pretend to hit him, but they said 'no we don't pretend here'.
"He was all read, like you can see the blood flow over his head and everything but before I left he was okay and talking so I don't know; did he really have a nut?"
Ngannou is currently set for surgery on his knee for an injury he suffered in preparation for his first title defence against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 last month.
He could be out until the end of the year with the injury, which would take him to the end of his UFC contract.
