Tyson Fury controversially defeated Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia
Francis Ngannou has teased a potential return to the Octagon to face heavyweight boxing legend Deontay Wilder in an MMA fight. The Cameroonian superstar impressed on his debut in the boxing ring against Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia despite losing by a split decision.
The 37-year-old more than matched his opponent on the night at Boulevard Hall in Riyadh, even knocking him down in Round 3. After going the full ten-round distance with the ‘Gypsy King’ in one of the century’s most gripping crossover fights, it now appears that the defeated Ngannou is eager to repeat the feat.
After proving his worth in a new discipline, he seemingly now has his eye on facing former WBC heavyweight title holder Deontay Wilder for his next fight. However, to add a bit of jeopardy to proceedings, Ngannou has floated the possibility that he would face the American in an MMA bout.
Facing the famed ‘Bronze Bomber’ in the cage would certainly be sure to draw the audiences if Fury versus Ngannou is anything to go by. The so-called ‘Battle of the Baddest’ had no belts riding on it but still both fighters are purported to have landed eight-figure sums for fighting.
Now, the defiant Ngannou has revealed that negotiations between his camp and Wilder’s are underway, with discussions over an event being staged now months old. The UFC heavyweight champion said on the MMA Hour: I think that is a good idea. In fact, we have spoken about that. That has been in the discussions.
“That is something that could potentially happen, so Deontay Wilder for a couple of months, a little while now, has been training MMA because there is the option. Nothing is set but it’s something [that has] been coming in my ear, to my attention.”
A major motivation for the Cameroonian fighter appears to have originated out of Wilder’s apparent enthusiasm for MMA but the former did warn that his potential opponent would not have things easy in the octagon. He continued: “That’s something that makes sense because he is really serious about the MMA.
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“I think Deontay Wilder is really interested in MMA, just to step into the octagon. But it’s going to be hard, it’s going to be a different place for him unlike this time [against Fury] when I was the one experiencing the mountain, climbing the mountain. He’s going to be the one climbing the mountain.”
Ngannou certainly proved some doubters wrong during his memorable bout against Fury, with the scorecards showing the strength of his performance. The man known to many in the UFC world as ‘The Predator’ would eventually fall short of the win, after scorecards read 95-94 in his favour to two – 94-95 and 96-93 in Fury’s.”
However, Ngannou was left buoyed that he had clearly left Fury resorting to some uncustomary moves, adding: “We all watched the fight last Saturday. Tyson tried some takedowns, he tried some clinches and even some elbows, but if it was an MMA fight he would have been in deep trouble.”
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