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Francis Ngannou manager outlines boxing plans, teases potential clash with Tyson Fury: ‘We’d love that matchup’

Francis Ngannou’s manager Marquel Martin expects to have a tune-up boxing bout before jumping into a big-name fight. Ngannou’s monumental new deal with PFL has given ‘The Predator’ the freedom and terms that he always wanted. Along with being chairman of PFL Africa as well as many other perks, Ngannou has also been given the […]

Francis Ngannou’s manager Marquel Martin expects to have a tune-up boxing bout before jumping into a big-name fight.

Ngannou’s monumental new deal with PFL has given ‘The Predator’ the freedom and terms that he always wanted. Along with being chairman of PFL Africa as well as many other perks, Ngannou has also been given the freedom to box out with the PFL banner, hoping to secure a fight with big-name heavyweights such as Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder or Anthony Joshua.

However, Ngannou will not return to competition until mid-2024 with either a fight on the PFL’s new super fight division, or a boxing match o the table

Francis Ngannou manager discusses future

The one thing Ngannou does have is options, and while the 36-year-old is not getting any younger, he and his management team are planning the best route to optimize his new position.

Talking on The MMA Hour, Martin would discuss Ngannou’s next steps and didn’t rule out a tune-up boxing match.

“We go back and forth on that all the time,” Martin said. “We’d love if one of the big fights present himself, but it seems like they’re kind of tied up. So I guess tune-up fight. Francis isn’t a traditional boxer, so every fight is a big fight. But I know Francis wants to challenge himself.

“Obviously, you see Deontay out there, Anthony Joshua out there, Tyson Fury out there, we’d love that matchup. I think that’s something that has a narrative and a story behind it that’s bigger than just the fight game, and at the same time, we want to see who the baddest man on the planet is.” (H/T MMAFighting)

Ultimately, while money is important, it is not the deal breaker for Ngannou and the Cameroonian plans on giving back to those who need it.

“And at the end of the day this is not about just money,” Marin said. “Francis wants to develop the sport in Africa. Combat sports. Again, one of the reasons why I fought for him so passionately or whatever you want to call it is because this dude is bigger than himself, the fight game.”

Francis Ngannou’s manager discusses future

What would you like to see Francis Ngannou do next?

Francis Ngannou’s back was against the wall going into Ciryl Gane fight: ‘I thought man, we’re in trouble’

Legendary coach Dewey Cooper revealed that confidence was at an all-time low in the weeks leading up to Francis Ngannou’s UFC heavyweight title defense against Ciryl Gane last year. ‘The Predator’ has dominated headlines over the last few weeks following the announcement that he had signed on the dotted line with the Professional Fighters League. […]

Legendary coach Dewey Cooper revealed that confidence was at an all-time low in the weeks leading up to Francis Ngannou’s UFC heavyweight title defense against Ciryl Gane last year.

‘The Predator’ has dominated headlines over the last few weeks following the announcement that he had signed on the dotted line with the Professional Fighters League. Ngannou revealed details of his ground-breaking contract which will guarantee himself and his future opponents a multi-million dollar payday along with a slew of other perks that will serve to benefit the mixed martial arts community as a whole. Needless to say, things are going great for the former heavyweight champion. But if you asked members of his team how things were looking just before his first and only title defense against Ciryl Gane, the situation would have seemed undeniably dire.

Speaking with John Morgan of MMA Underground, Dewey Cooper revealed that everything was going according to plan until Francis Ngannou blew out his knee three weeks before his scheduled scrap at UFC 270. With no contract in place, a brutal injury, and a high-stakes matchup on the horizon, Cooper admitted that everyone on the team was bearing down for the absolute worst.

Dewey Cooper Says Francis Ngannou Was Ready to Accept the Consequences of Losing to Ciryl Gane

“There’s a certain profoundness in having the courage to step off that cliff. Because you could die from that fall, or you could be lifted to astronomical levels,” Cooper said. “Going into that Ciryl Gane fight, Francis looked spectacular in the gym, I’ve talked about it many times. I was like, Francis is gonna kill someone – he destroys his knee three weeks out.

“Everyone, myself, coach Eric, Marquel, everyone, was saying man, this is your last fight, you refused to sign your restructured new contract, you are crazy to take this fight. If you lose you’re gonna get banished and you’re gonna get lowballed. Francis knew the repercussions of losing. In all actuality, with the injury he had, success went from 100% to, I don’t wanna say the percentage, but it wasn’t very high!

“I believed in him but I thought man, we’re in trouble,” Cooper admitted. “Anyway, for him to still get a multimillion-dollar offer a few days before the fight, which most people would’ve signed right there… For Francis not to sign, take that fight and win it the way he won it, and to then take a year off because of the championship clause, it’s crazy. But guess what? All of his thoughts on what he wanted were bigger than the money, man” (h/t BJPenn.com).

Francis Ngannou is expected to make his Smart Cage debut in 2024. Before then, ‘The Predator’ has his sights set on trying his hand at the sweet science before 2023 comes to a close. When, where and against who is yet to be determined, but Ngannou insists that a fight inside the squared circle will happen whether it be against a big name like Tyson Fury or a tune-up fight ahead of his return to MMA.

Francis Ngannou warned away from boxing debut against Deontay Wilder: ‘He hits you, you’re going to sleep’

Former undisputed UFC heavyweight champion, and recent PFL (Professional Fighters League) signing, Francis Ngannou, has been warned about the potential pursuit of a professional boxing debut against former WBC heavyweight champion, Deontay Wilder by decorated gold holder, Terence Crawford, with the Batié native warned about a potential devastating KO loss. Ngannou, a ruthless knockout artist […]

Ngannou, a ruthless knockout artist in his own right, has been sidelined from combat sports since January of last year, most recently headlining UFC 270 against former interim heavyweight champion, Ciryl Gane – successfully unifying the titles in a unanimous decision win over the Frenchman.

Electing to depart the UFC in January of this year following the completion of his contractual obligations with the promotion, Ngannou penned terms on a monumental deal with the Peter Murray-led PFL earlier this month.

And expected to remain sidelined from mixed martial arts until next year, Cameroonian heavyweight, Francis Ngannou is slated to switch focus to a long-rumored debut in the squared-circle – eyeing fights against the likes of the above-mentioned, Wilder, current champion, Tyson Fury, and former gold holder, Anthony Joshua.

Francis Ngannou issued real warning ahead of expected boxing debut

However, according to welterweight kingpin, the undefeated, Crawford, Ngannou would be wise to avoid a fight with Wilder in the future – warning him of a potential brutal knockout loss he could be on the receiving end of.

“If he (Deontay Wilder) hits you, you’re going to sleep,” Terence Crawford told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour while discussing Francis Ngannou. “Deontay Wilder, he hits you, you’re going to sleep. Tyson Fury, he went to sleep and woke up. I don’t see too many other guys doing that. Deontay Wilder is one of the biggest punchers ever, so just keep that in mind.”

Winning undisputed UFC heavyweight gold back in March 2021, Ngannou landed the undisputed title with a thunderous second round KO win over Stipe Miocic, avenging a prior decision loss to the Ohio veteran.

ONE Championship titleholder Arjan Bhullar calls out Francis Ngannou for ‘The most-Watched fight of all time’

Reigning ONE heavyweight world champion Arjan Bhullar believes a fight between himself and Francis Ngannou could bring in 800 million viewers. ‘The Predator’ made waves two weeks ago after revealing that he had signed a ground-breaking contract with the Professional Fighters League. Aside from making himself a truckload of cash, Ngannou also guaranteed a fat […]

Reigning ONE heavyweight world champion Arjan Bhullar believes a fight between himself and Francis Ngannou could bring in 800 million viewers.

‘The Predator’ made waves two weeks ago after revealing that he had signed a ground-breaking contract with the Professional Fighters League. Aside from making himself a truckload of cash, Ngannou also guaranteed a fat stack of money for his future opponents and a seat at the head of the table for the PFL’s latest expansion into Africa. The former UFC heavyweight champion isn’t expected to step inside the Smart Cage until 2024, but if Arjan Bhullar gets his way, his ticket for the Francis Ngannou lottery will be the winning one.

Speaking with Chamatkar Sandhu on YouTube about a potential ONE vs. PFL co-promoted event, Bhullar suspects that the $2 million guaranteed purse for Francis Ngannou’s first opponent could be worth significantly more as part of a cross-promotion between the two global enterprises.

“And I think to be quite fair, I think that two million is if you’re in-house with the PFL. If we’re co-promoting, we’re doing this or that, there’s no ceiling to that,” Bhullar said.

Arjan Bhullar Believes a Fight Between Himself and Francis Ngannou Would Be the Most Watched Fight in MMA History

Arjan Bhullar also suggested that no other fighter in the world could bring as many eyes to the potential matchup as he.

“I think there’s significantly more, in terms of myself, there’s no other heavyweight on the planet that could bring 800 million eyeballs, [through] Star sports [broadcaster of ONE Championship in India], to the table being a champion with that. It would be the most-watched fight of all time, you wouldn’t get those eyeballs anywhere else” (h/t MMA News).

Before he begins lobbying hard for a scrap with Francis Ngannou, Arjan Bhullar will first need to deal with interim ONE heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin. The two behemoths are scheduled to unify their titles on June 23 at ONE Friday Fights 22 after more than a year of delays and cancellations.

“June 23rd, I’ve got a date,” Bhullar continued. “I’ve gotta take care of that, but after that, nothing else, it’s all just talk. So no in terms of that, but if we’re just talking, we’re sitting on a podcast, then yes, definitely.”

Are you interested in seeing the reigning ONE heavyweight world champion mix it up with Francis Ngannou?

Francis Ngannou tipped for potential PFL debut against Bellator champion Ryan Bader: ‘That could be interesting’

Off the back of his monumental signing with the PFL (Professional Fighters League) earlier this month, former undisputed UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou has been tipped to potentially face a host of heavyweight talents and champions the world over – by former UFC welterweight title challenger, Dan Hardy. Ngannou, a former undisputed heavyweight champion under […]

Ngannou, a former undisputed heavyweight champion under the banner of the UFC, departed the promotion back in January of this year following the completion of his contractual obligations with the organization last December, electing against signing a new contract with the Dana White-led promotion.

Francis Ngannou departed the UFC in less than ceremonious circumstances

Expected to make his return to active competition in mixed martial arts next year with the PFL, Batié native, Francis Ngannou is expected to pursue a professional boxing debut later this year before a return to mixed martial arts competition.

Yet to book a debut opponent, Francis Ngannou has been touted as potential opponents for ONE Championship heavyweights, the current Bellator heavyweight titleholder, as well as talents under the scrutiny of the PFL.

“I’m excited at the possibilities,” Dan Hardy told The Sportsman during a recent interview. “I think there are a few options. There are other heavyweights out there in other promotions. Over in ONE Championship, we’ve got Arjan Bhullar, and Anatoly Malykhin, who would be great fights. Ryan Bader over in Bellator I think could be an interesting one. Someone else that’s very athletic and brings speed and wrestling ability to the division.”

“But, Ante Delija feels like a very good pick as well,” Hardy continued. “We’ve got some good heavyweights; [Bruno] Cappelozza. There are good heavyweights on the PFL roster right now that I feel, with maybe another two or three fights, they’ll be in a position to step forward.” (Transcribed by MMA News)

Last featuring professionally back in January of last year atop a UFC 270 card in Anaheim, California – Ngannou successfully unified the heavyweight titles with a unanimous decision victory against former interim gold holder, Ciryl Gane.