Joe Rogan and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson hope to see Tyson Fury run it back with Francis Ngannou following their critically acclaimed clash last month in Saudi Arabia.
On October 28, ‘The Predator’ made his pro boxing debut against perhaps the greatest heavyweight fighter of all time, Tyson Fury. Going into the bout as a massive underdog, and understandably so, Ngannou proceeded to prove all of his doubters wrong, putting on a show-stealing performance against the WBC titleholder.
Since then, fight fans have been chomping at the bit to find out what will come next for Ngannou. Speaking with guest Dwayne Johnson on the latest episode of his popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, the longtime UFC commentator offered his thoughts on what the former UFC heavyweight champ should do next.
“Get as much money as you can,” Rogan said. “This is what I think they should do. Put him in with a heavyweight boxer that he can beat who has a good record. Someone who’s in the argument of a top ten [ranking], and if Francis knocks that guy out, they can try to coax Tyson Fury into a rematch.
“That would be f*cking bananas and I think Saudi Arabia has enough money to actually pull it off. They might be able to bait Tyson in with some life-changing generational money.”
Incredible angle of Francis Ngannou’s knockdown of Tyson Fury pic.twitter.com/GsUhxQHVMp
— The Octagon Obsessed (@octagonobsessed) October 28, 2023
Despite being bloodied, bruised, and knocked down during the 10-round affair, Fury walked away the winner via a split-decision victory.
Though he left Riyadh with another win on his record, his reputation as the greatest boxer in the world took a pretty big hit. Should they decide to run it back, Rogan believes that ‘The Gypsy King’ would approach things differently.
“He certainly underestimated Francis,” Rogan said. “I don’t know how he trained for Francis. He said he trained as hard as ever, which is possible because he always looks that way. Like Fedor [Emelianenko], he has this very disarming body and he jokes around about it. He’s a character. I love the guy to death, but I think if he knows now what he’s up against and he just boxes with a real understanding of the consequences of making a mistake, I think it’s probably a different fight.
Rogan continued, “One of the things you see from Tyson Fury when he does have a rematch, he performs so much better. Like the Deontay Wilder fight. Perfect example. First fight, down to the wire. Dropped in the last round. It’s a draw. Second fight, dominates. Third fight, dominant.”
The Rock believes Tyson Fury’s ‘Champion Mentality’ May Push Him to Pursue a Rematch with Francis Ngannou
Adding his thoughts on a potential rematch, Dwayne Johnson suggested that Tyson Fury may be inclined to accept the fight in hopes of proving to himself that he can bounce back and put a beating on Francis Ngannou which will leave no question of who the winner is.
“There’s two trains of thought here,” Johnson said. “One is, ‘I don’t actually need to fight him again.’ There’s that train of thought, but then I wonder if he goes back to the champion mentality where, ‘As a champion, I need to fight that guy.'”
He added, “With Tyson, it just feels like [in his head], it’s a fight that I need. Just in terms of… As champion, the mentality. The feeling that’s in here, the mana. I need to do that again.”
Currently, Tyson Fury is gearing up for a title unification clash with Oleksandr Usyk on February 17. With Ngannou now officially ranked in the WBC top ten, it’s possible that the winner could end up facing the Cameroonian down the line.
Check out highlights from Ngannou vs. Fury below:
