Despite his stock rising dramatically in the boxing world thanks to almost beating heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in a boxing match this past weekend, Francis Ngannou has stated that while he does intend to compete in the squared circle again, he is also planning for MMA fights in the PFL organization too.
“I can do both,” Ngannou told ESPN after the fight in regards to his future plans. “Nothing is stopping me from doing both. If I have the skill for both of them, why not? As for right now, I have a deal with PFL and I’m intending to fight MMA again. I love it. I’m more comfortable. I still love it.
“I might do some MMA fights, but I’m still going to do boxing. I never intended to just step over and do one fight and just go out. That wasn’t the plan at all, never. The plan is still the same.”
There’s no doubt there’s some big options on the table for Ngannou in the boxing world now though, with a rematch against Fury surely being the fight everyone wants to see, while the likes of Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua also being touted as potential blockbuster bouts for him.
Truth be told, with many of the world’s best heavyweights locked into contracts with the UFC, the options available to Ngannou for a big MMA fight are not as glamorous, so the PFL have their work cut out for them as they look to put together a match-up that can live up to Ngannou’s skyrocketing reputation around the globe.
As things stand though ‘The Predator’ is just enjoying the moment, and revelling in the fact that in many people’s eyes (including his own, but not two of the three judges), he just beat the boxing heavyweight champion of the world.
“If he’s being honest, he would say I won that fight,” Ngannou said. “I won that fight. There is not a question about it. And even before getting here, I knew if this fights goes to decision, I’m not winning. Not because I didn’t do good, because I’m the new guy in the house. I come here and I just want to kick into people’s business.
“There’s a structured business out there and you need to do a lot to destroy it. That’s why it would be an upset. I wasn’t expecting to win like that in a decision. But it is what it is. I do my job. I know I did everything I could have done. I did my best. Maybe next time I should just do better to convince people.”
That being said, as much as he took the controversial split-decision loss on the chin, on reflection Ngannou did feel that he’d been let down by the judges on the night.
“I think it’s a shame for boxing though,” Ngannou said on his YouTube channel “I think it’s a shame for this sport. And those judges or whoever, they should be sanctioned. Again, I want to understand why those judges judge like that, because for me, to be honest, I don’t care that much about that decision, but I think those kinds of decisions mess up a lot of people’s careers.”
