Francis Ngannou | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

Francis Ngannou’s coach addresses MMA future if he defeats Tyson Fury: ‘He has more to accomplish’

After climbing to the top of the mixed martial arts world, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou will test his mettle in the squared circle on October 28. ‘The Predator’ will head to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for his highly anticipated professional boxing debut. Meeting him in the ring is perhaps the greatest competitor […]

After climbing to the top of the mixed martial arts world, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou will test his mettle in the squared circle on October 28.

‘The Predator’ will head to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for his highly anticipated professional boxing debut. Meeting him in the ring is perhaps the greatest competitor in the history of the sport, Tyson Fury. Understandably, Francis Ngannou will go into the bout as a decided underdog, but with the kind of power that the Cameroonian possesses, he most definitely has a puncher’s chance of shocking the world and planting ‘The Gypsy King’ six feet under the canvas.

But should that highly unlikely scenario become a reality, what’s next? Currently, Francis Ngannou is expected to make his return to MMA in 2024 under the PFL banner, but could a win over Fury delay those plans or nix them altogether? Ngannou’s coach, Eric Nicksick, says that is a bridge they’ll cross once they get to it.

“I guess we’ll cross that bridge when it comes,” Ngannou’s head coach Eric Nicksick told MMA Fighting. “[Financially] he can lose to Tyson Fury and never have to fight again. Who knows.”

Even if Francis Ngannou manages to hand Tyson Fury his first career loss in the sweet science, Nicksick is confident that ‘The Predator’ will return to the cage as he still has much more to accomplish in the sport.

“I’m hoping that he wins this fight and I feel he has so much more to accomplish in MMA, just from what he’s been building with his skill set,” Nicksick explained. “As long as he’s enjoying it and he’s having fun, I think he’ll come back.”

I am not easily impressed, but @Francis_Ngannou knows how to box. THIS is what dedication looks like. #FuryNgannou #RiyadhSeason pic.twitter.com/kDK30akHK0

— Mike Tyson (@MikeTyson) September 1, 2023

Eric Nicksick Reveals the Key to the Evolution of Francis Ngannou

Making things fun has been a big key to Francis Ngannou’s success according to Nicksick. When Ngannou first made his presence known at Xtreme Couture, everyone knew he was something special, but he still had a lot of work ahead if he wanted to become a bonafide superstar. That was ever-present in his first meeting with general consensus heavyweight GOAT Stipe Miocic at UFC 220. For 25 minutes, Miocic relentlessly pursued takedowns and pummeled ‘The Predator’ on the ground, exposing a glaring hole in Ngannou’s game.

Since then, Ngannou has rounded out his skill set. Talking about his evolution, Eric Nicksick revealed that it was all about making it fun for ‘The Predator’ during subsequent training sessions to fill that gap.

“We made it fun for him,” Nicksick said. “When we first started talking about the wrestling element, you think about your deficiencies and that takes a tax on your mental state. Our mindset was to make it fun for him and make it offensive, and especially when it comes to wrestling, if you’re working on offensive wrestling, inherently you’re going to work on defensive wrestling.

“What we had to do was flip the script and make it more fun for him. So when he’s taking guys down and beating guys up, you can see that he had a new tool. It made it a lot more fun.”

Francis Ngannou has since showed off his ground game, utilizing it to defend the UFC heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane in what would be his final fight with the promotion.

Following the win, Ngannou was shelved for more than a year after undergoing knee surgery to repair a torn ACL.

“At the end of the day, with what he’s been developing in the room with MMA, he said to me a few times — and this was after we got him back in the room after knee surgery — he’s like, ‘I really love what I’m doing in MMA,’” Nicksick relayed. “[He told me,] ‘I love the sport now, I love all the aspects with all the takedowns and everything else.’”

Jon Jones admits lack of interest in fighting new UFC contenders: ‘I came back ready for Francis Ngannou’

Despite firmly chased by surging heavyweight contenders, Tom Aspinall, and Sergei Pavlovich, incumbent division champion, Jon Jones has distanced himself from future pairings, claiming he was “ready” to fight former champion and promotional alum, Francis Ngannou in his return to the UFC. Jones, a former two-time undisputed light heavyweight champion and current heavyweight gold holder, […]

Jones, a former two-time undisputed light heavyweight champion and current heavyweight gold holder, most recently headlined UFC 285 back in March, successfully minting himself as the division titleholder with a first round guillotine choke win over former interim gold holder, Ciryl Gane.

The Endicott native is slated to return to the Octagon at UFC 295 in November at Madison Square Garden, attempting to defend his crown against the returning two-time titleholder, Stipe Miocic.

Jon Jones addresses failed fight with Francis Ngannou

However, despite the pursuit of Russian knockout ace, Pavlovich, and British contender, Aspinall, Jones, who arrived back in the organization following the departure of the above-mentioned, Ngannou, claimed he was “ready” to fight the Cameroonian.

“Tom Aspinall, I think he really has the potential to do something really special in the heavyweight division,” Jon Jones said on the OverDogs podcast. “I think he’s going to be hard for the majority of guys to beat. I really do believe that.”

“The narrative switched somehow and everyone is saying that I waited three years and I came back exactly when Francis (Ngannou) was gone,” Jon Jones explained. “That’s actually not true. When I got back, Francis was very much on the roster still and I could have been his last fight, but instead, he opted out and Ciryl Gane took Francis’ spot. I came back ready for Francis Ngannou, for sure. I’m not going to lie though, knowing I was fighting Ciryl Gane instead of Francis was kind of nice.”

As for Ngannou, the Batié knockout artist is slated to fight incumbent WBC heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury in a professional boxing debut in October in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Can a fight between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou finally take place?

Francis Ngannou brimming with confidence ahead of clash with Tyson Fury: ‘He’ll hit the canvas’

Former UFC heavyweight world champion Francis Ngannou is feeling incredibly confident ahead of his debut in the squared circle. On October 28, ‘The Predator’ will make his way to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for a showdown with reigning WBC heavyweight titleholder Tyson Fury. It will be Francis Ngannou’s first foray into the sweet science, […]

Former UFC heavyweight world champion Francis Ngannou is feeling incredibly confident ahead of his debut in the squared circle.

On October 28, ‘The Predator’ will make his way to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for a showdown with reigning WBC heavyweight titleholder Tyson Fury. It will be Francis Ngannou’s first foray into the sweet science, and despite the fact that he’s fighting arguably the greatest pugilist in the sport today, the Cameroonian is feeling quite confident in his ability to not only survive but thrive inside the ring.

Much of that may be due to the fact that Ngannou has one of the most iconic competitors in the history of the sport training him. Knockout artist and former undisputed heavyweight champion ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson has been working with Francis Ngannou every step of the way. According to Ngannou, his work with ‘Kid Dynamite’ has improved some major aspects of his game that will undoubtedly aid him against ‘The Gypsy King’ in Riyadh.

“The footwork and transitions, that’s been really amazing,” Ngannou told TMZ Sports in a brief interview.

Francis Ngannou Makes Bold Prediction for Tyson Fury Fight

Ngannou went on to make a rather bold claim regarding his showdown with Tyson Fury this fall.

“What doesn’t matter is what he’s saying,” Ngannou declared. “What matters is what’s going to happen in Saudi, and what’s going to happen is he’ll hit the canvas, I can tell you that. I know he’s going to the canvas. He’s good at coming back up, we’ll see how good he is, but he’s definitely hitting the canvas” (h/t MMA News).

Last year, Fury added two more wins to his resume, scoring back-to-back TKOs against Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora. After failing to secure a long-awaited clash with Oleksandr Usyk for 2023, Fury opted to accept the fight with Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia. And while Fury’s WBC title won’t be on the line, the event is expected to bring in some monstrous numbers in the American pay-per-view market.

Will you be shelling out some of your hard-earned money to see Francis Ngannou throw hands with ‘The Gypsy King’ on October 28?

Ex-Champion blasts October fight between Francis Ngannou, Tyson Fury: ‘I think it’s gonna be boring’

Former WBC heavyweight champion, Deontay Wilder has claimed a scheduled October boxing clash between former UFC heavyweight kingpin, Francis Ngannou, a former three-time opponent, Tyson Fury will be nothing more than a “boring” spectacle. Slated to make his professional boxing debut over the course of 10 scheduled rounds in the Middle East, former undisputed UFC […]

Slated to make his professional boxing debut over the course of 10 scheduled rounds in the Middle East, former undisputed UFC heavyweight kingpin, Francis Ngannou is booked to fight incumbent WBC heavyweight gold holder, Tyson Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in October.

Set to make his first combat sports outing since he headlined UFC 270 back in January of last year, Batié knockout artist, Ngannou, who has employed the coaching talents of former world champion, Mike Tyson, most recently landed a unanimous decision win over Ciryl Gane to successfully unify the UFC titles.

As for Fury, the outspoken Morecambe native has been sidelined himself since December last, on that occasions defeating Derek Chisora for the third time in his professional career to defend the WBC title.

Deontay Wilder criticizes Francis Ngannou’s clash with Tyson Fury in October

However, as per Alabama native, Wilder, the former WBC heavyweight best has predicted a wholly “boring” pairing of Ngannou and Fury when they share the squared circle in two months’ time.

“I think it’s gonna be boring, in my gut, I feel it’s gonna be boring,” Deontay Wilder told ESNews during a recent interview. “I don’t think it’s gonna be an exciting fight. Because, I haven’t been in it, the heavyweight division is going down tremendously. The excitement about it is just not the same no more.”

“The heavyweight division has been f*cking dead,” Wilder explained. “I remember the time when it was like, ‘Damn, it’s good to be a heavyweight, the division is back.’ Now, you don’t feel no electricity at all. And we know what man brought that excitement.”

Himself linked with a long-rumored showdown against former world champion, Anthony Joshua, Wilder has been sidelined since he knocked out common-foe, Finnish heavyweight, Robert Helenius back in October of last year in Brooklyn, New York.

Who wins between Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury later this year?

Francis Ngannou believes fight against Tyson Fury will make his inevitable clash with Jon Jones even bigger

Francis Ngannou still believes a superfight with reigning UFC heavyweight titleholder Jon Jones could still happen. On October 28, Ngannou will make his long-teased debut in the squared circle for a crossover clash with WBC heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury. The pair will square off in Saudi Arabia before ‘The Predator’ inevitably turns his attention […]

Francis Ngannou still believes a superfight with reigning UFC heavyweight titleholder Jon Jones could still happen.

On October 28, Ngannou will make his long-teased debut in the squared circle for a crossover clash with WBC heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury. The pair will square off in Saudi Arabia before ‘The Predator’ inevitably turns his attention toward making his promotional debut for the Professional Fighters League.

Francis Ngannou signed with the PFL earlier this year in a blockbuster deal that will see him head up the promotion’s expansion in Africa.

As exciting as it will be to see Ngannou inside the Smart Cage, fans, and Ngannou himself, are understandably disappointed that a fight with Jon Jones is seemingly off the cards. However, during an appearance on the Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson podcast, ‘The Predator’ suggested that the fight could still happen someday.

“I’m disappointed, too, but that fight is still possible,” Ngannou insisted. “I think we both are down for it. I left the UFC but that doesn’t mean that this fight cannot happen.”

Francis Ngannou talks Jon Jones: I left the UFC ,that doesn't mean that the fight cannot happen.

Full podcast here: https://t.co/IcdYJEwyTy pic.twitter.com/uM8smAndkQ

— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) August 23, 2023

Francis Ngannou Sees Fight with Jon Jones Happening If All Involved Parties Can Come to an Agreement

In fact, Francis Ngannou believes his fight with Tyson Fury could very well make a follow-up showdown with Jon Jones that much bigger.

“It will just make that fight bigger. Like, imagine me and Jon Jones fighting after the Tyson Fury fight, the one or the second one, it just gets that fight bigger and bigger,” Ngannou said. “So that fight will always be there when both of us want to fight. Now, it’s a matter of our contractual situation” (h/t MMA News).

Of course, the biggest obstacle surrounding a fight between Jones and ‘The Predator’ is, as Ngannou said, their contractual obligations. Ngannou is currently signed to the PFL, a promotion that has been more than willing to play ball with other organizations to deliver epic fights. Unfortunately, the UFC is not. As the number one mixed martial arts organization in the world, the UFC sees little incentive to engage in cross-promotional matchmaking. It would only serve to boost their own competition.

Still, strange things tend to happen when millions of dollars are at stake. Perhaps one day the PFL can sort things out with the UFC and together, they can book the biggest fight in heavyweight MMA history.