Francis Ngannou finally made his return to MMA this past October after two years away from the cage, winning the PFL heavyweight super fight championship against Renan Ferreira.
After making his long-awaited debut in the PFL Smartcage, Francis Ngannou knocked out Renan Ferreira in the first round of their heavyweight main event, showcasing that he is still one of the best on the planet.
Despite that, ‘The Predator’ admitted shortly after that he is still not done with boxing and is looking to return to the ring next year.
Francis Ngannou and Derek Chisora tease potential boxing clash
During his time away from the cage, Ngannou swapped the MMA gloves for the boxing gloves and fought against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
After taking ‘The Gypsy King’ to an extremely close decision in his first outing in the boxing ring, fans were extremely optimistic about his fight against the heavy hitter, Joshua.
However, the 38-year-old suffered a scary second-round knockout which left fans hoping that he wouldn’t return to the boxing ring again.
Although fans were hopeful that ‘The Predator’ would make a full-time return to MMA, after he expressed his desire to return to boxing again, Deontay Wilder was highlighted as a potential opponent.
With that, ‘The Bronze Bomber’ recently called out Ngannou for a potential clash and Ngannou responded by stating that he would like Wilder to be one of two more boxing fights.
Once again, though, Ngannou now seemingly has options as he and Derek Chisora bumped into each other this past Thursday evening at a Manchester United soccer game and teased a potential fight.
“Guess who I bumped into, people?” Chisora teased in a video on his Instagram story as he turned the camera towards Ngannou.
“Can’t say much, can’t say much but I’m wishing you a Merry Christmas, brother,” Chisora told Ngannou.
Chisora is scheduled to make his 49th appearance in the ring this coming February when he takes on Otto Wallin at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester.
The 40-year-old has expressed his desire to make his 50th and final fight against Ngannou in Africa, in what would be a monumental event.
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Francis Ngannou better off in MMA than boxing according to Dan Hardy
This Friday, the PFL 2024 championships are set to take place in Saudi Arabia, and heavyweights Denis Golstov and Oleg Popov are clashing for the heavyweight title.
With the promotion still continuing to seek mega fights for Ngannou inside the PFL, Dan Hardy believes the winner of the 2024 heavyweight tournament should be Ngannou’s next opponent.
“I think it makes the most sense to me. You’ve got two guys here – two impressive Russian fighters who are both at different ends of their careers,” Hardy told MMA Junkie.
“I think there are other options out there, but whatever Ngannou does, I would rather him do it in mixed martial arts because I think we see the best of him. He’s just more free and way more dangerous in mixed martial arts,” Hardy continued.
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