Former WBC heavyweight boxing champion, Deontay Wilder, is serious about crossing over to mixed martial arts (MMA) and has been calling for a potential showdown opposite ex-UFC heavyweight titleholder Francis Ngannou, long before “The Predator” shook up the boxing world against Tyson Fury in Riyadh.
Sounds like Ngannou prefers to settle their business inside the ring.
“I will do boxing next,” Ngannou (0-2) told Sportsbook Review. “I want to. I’m not done with boxing. It’s not that MMA is easy, it’s the sport that I understand better and I have more experience in, but I say go for boxing. Maybe not in his past two fights, but Deontay Wilder is known as a guy that knocks everybody out or tries to knock you out. I’m going against that guy, and I myself can knock someone out. Deep inside me there is a little bit of ego, like I know I hit harder.”
Ngannou, 38, has just one MMA fight across the last three years.
A bout against Wilder (43-4-1, 42 KOs) makes more sense now than it did when “The Predator” first floated the idea back in early 2023. The 39 year-old “Bronze Bomber” has dropped four of his last five, getting finished in three of those losses. Similarly, Ngannou was crushed by Anthony Joshua when they went to war last March in Saudi Arabia.
A great fight for boxing. For PFL? Not so much.