- Francis Ngannou looked back at his decision to leave the UFC and loss to Tyson Fury
- “The Predator” talked about his upcoming fight with Anthony Joshua
Francis Ngannou has reflected on the big things that happened in his career ahead of his upcoming boxing match with Anthony Joshua.
Francis was scared after leaving the UFC
Speaking to High Performance, “The Predator” admitted that even though he was decided to leave the UFC due to conflicts, he felt “scared” because he knew the higher-ups weren’t happy with his move.
“First, we disagree on a lot of way that things were going. I think the biggest mistake that the UFC did was to trying to mistreat me or to master me up… I’m so stubborn to be master up,” Ngannou said of parting ways with the UFC.
“Of course, [I was scared]. I mean, you have this big corporation, this big company that has a lot of power, they have a lot of investors, they have a lot of financial power, a lot of people have an interest in this company and then you saying you’re getting in the position that basically you are making them losing money, the company will do everything to save that,” he added.
Victory despite defeat
Ngannou also made it clear that he wasn’t thinking of anything else but to beat Tyson Fury during their epic showdown. And while many thought he was devastated by the controversial split decision, Ngannou said he had more things to celebrate than just “some foolish judges” decision.
“I was in that fight. I was thinking about him. I was thinking of what will happen next. I wasn’t thinking about you know I don’t carry my story in the ring… I knew that Tyson is the guy that will always come back from knockdown or something like that, the guy almost come back from knockout so knockdown wouldn’t be an issue for him. So he was cool but how to handle the fight, I wasn’t thinking about anything else except that fight at that moment. Maybe afterward or now we can reflect on that but at that moment, that’s not the thing that you think,” Ngannou reflected.
“I won. Look at me now. Look at my life, look at where I was when you think I lost, you think because some foolish judges make some decision, that change anything in my life? My family that I was telling you about, they was sitting in the first row watching that fight. The dream that I was in since I was kid, I was, that night, living that dream on top of the world I was there,” he explained.
“And for all the people that been doubting me I was there proving them wrong,” he added. “For everybody that ever look me down, I was there proving them wrong. I won everything that night.
“What would happen if they have given me [the] decision, it makes the boxing look really bad like they need to save their face at some point. I understand,” he concluded.
AJ doesn’t have the strength
Joshua seems very confident about taking Ngannou out in their boxing match. On the other hand, the former UFC heavyweight champ is not guaranteeing anything but he believes he could dismantle Joshua in the ring.
“I will never say never. Nothing is impossible right, we don’t know the strength of Antony Joshua but even though, I don’t believe he has that strength, but we’re going to find out in two months, we’re going to find out and I think the reverse going to happen, I’m going to be the one taking his soul,” Ngannou said of Joshua.
Ngannou’s plan is to beat Joshua and compete for the undisputed heavyweight title. It sounds easy but Joshua is coming off three consecutive wins with the latest coming by TKO on Otto Wallin.
Joshua vs. Ngannou is set to take place on March 8. 2024 in Riyadh.
Watch Ngannou’s full interview below:
