Francis Ngannou is enjoying his time (and money) as a professional boxer, going the distance with one of the greats in Tyson Fury, ultimately losing a close split-decision to “Gypsy King” in Oct. 2023. Despite the defeat, “The Predator” set himself up for another big-money showdown against Anthony Joshua, which is set for March 9, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Interestingly enough, Fury and Joshua have yet to cross paths inside the boxing ring.
But Ngannou still has a contract to fight in mixed marital arts (MMA) with Professional Fighters League (PFL), and both Renan Ferreira and Ryan Bader want to be the first to welcome the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight champion to the SmartCage. In fact, the winner of the upcoming champion vs. champion slugfest, which is set for Feb. 24, 2024, also in Riyadh, expect to lock down the Ngannou fight.
“One hundred percent,” Bader said at a special pre-fight press conference about facing Ngannou (see it here). “That’s one of the fights…he’s got his boxing fight coming up, but I think it’s perfect timing. We get this done and the winner gets that opportunity,” he added.
“Francis is coming over, a former UFC champion, he just had an amazing fight with Tyson Fury and put everybody on notice. So to have the ability to go out there and prove to everybody, to go out there and get that win, that’s huge. I’m not looking past Renan, but get that done, 100 percent.”
For Ferreria, he would love nothing more than to solidify his status as the PFL Heavyweight king with a win over “The Predator” should he get a win over “Darth.”
“If everything goes as planned, yeah. After Feb. 24, Francis is the name. And that being said, I’ll be able to go however he wants to do it,” proclaimed “Problema,” before saying he will gladly box “The Predator” if he wants to go that route.
“If he wants to do it in MMA, in boxing, we’ll be ready.
There is not telling if Ngannou will return to the MMA scene in 2024 (depending on who you ask) because he has already stated that he also wants a fight against Deontay Wilder, which is very much a reality for him once he and Joshua trade hands.
That said, you can’t blame any Heavyweight — this one included — for wanting to get a piece of Ngannou inside the PFL cage because every one of “The Predator’s” opponents is set to make a staggering $2 million for the fight.