After coming very close to beating reigning champion Tyson Fury on the scorecards in his boxing debut last year, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou’s next fight in the squared circle will be against a former unified heavyweight champ in Anthony Joshua on March 9th in Saudia Arabia.
“Alright, massive breaking news this Friday evening, in the world of combat sports,” Ariel Helwani announced in a video on social media. “I have confirmed, via [Saudi royal advisor] Mr. Turki AlAlSheikh that it is a done deal, it’s going down; Francis Ngannou, ‘Le Predator,’ the former UFC heavyweight champion, is returning to Riyadh Saudi Arabia. Of course, just a few months removed from his incredible performance against Tyson Fury; after an unbelievable year, where he leaves the UFC, he signs with PFL, then he gets the big Tyson fight and shocks everyone.
“He is returning to action, in a boxing match, later on this year; to go up against the former heavyweight champion, the man who had an incredible 2023 in his own right, the man who just won at ‘Day of Reckoning’ on December 23rd, in Riyadh—the one and only ‘AJ’ Anthony Joshua. It is a done deal on both ends. Anthony Joshua, Francis Ngannou, ten-round fight, later on this year in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.”
Interestingly, the pay-per-view event will take place on March 9th, the same night as the UFC 299 PPV show in Miami, Florida, which will be headlined by a bantamweight title fight between Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera.
