Brendan Schaub believes Francis Ngannou could beat Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder, and Anthony Joshua at their own game.
Hot take: Former UFC heavyweight turned stand-up comedian and podcast host Brendan Schaub believes Francis Ngannou could KO Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder, and Anthony Joshua in the boxing ring.
Schaub believes there’s a real possibility we see Ngannou — the reigning UFC heavyweight champion — test free agency and possibly sign with a promotion that allows him to compete in boxing and MMA.
“You could go test the free agency and sign a deal with Bellator or Rizin or One Championship or PFL or Bare Knuckle or something like that,” Schaub said on his latest episode of The Schaub Show (h/t The Mirror).
“And you have a stipulation in your contract where you can fight Fury and Wilder and Joshua. One of those fights will pay you more than any organisation in the world in MMA could possibly pay you.
“Win, lose or draw, you’re going to get paid. And not only are you going to get paid. You know it’s a big risk especially if you can get it done. Not only are you going to get paid but you’re going to get paid twice.
“Nobody’s going to sign a one-fight deal to fight Francis Ngannou. There’s going to be a rematch clause in there at some point. If Francis were to land one which he’s definitely capable of, he’d knock any of those three out. They’re not going to let in him ride off into the sunset.”
The idea isn’t so far-fetched as Ngannou himself has stated his desire to crossover to boxing amid a growing contract dispute with the UFC. Would the Cameroonian knockout artist be able to topple the boxing elite, however? Highly unlikely although, given his power, certainly within the realm of possibility.
Ngannou is set to take on Ciryl Gane in a heavyweight title unification bout at UFC 270 on Jan. 22 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.