Francis Ngannou plans to compete in MMA and boxing following his controversial loss against Tyson Fury.
On Saturday, October 28, Ngannou silenced the doubters once again by knocking down Fury in their blockbuster boxing match. Despite the former UFC heavyweight champion’s valiant effort, ‘The Gypsy King’ was awarded a split decision win (96-93, 95-94, and 94-95).
Following the official judges’ decision, social media exploded, with most fans, analysts, and fighters claiming Ngannou deserved to get his hand raised.
Shortly after the fight, Francis Ngannou joined ESPN’s Brett Okamoto for an interview. During their conversation, Okamoto asked Ngannou what Fury would say if he honestly answered who should’ve been awarded the decision win.
‘The Predator’ responded by saying:
“If he was being honest, he would say I won that fight. I won that fight. There’s not a question about it. Even before getting here, I knew. I knew if this fight get to a decision, I’m not winning. Not because I didn’t do good, because I’m the new guy in the house…There’s a structure of business out there, and you need to do a lot to destroy that.”
Ngannou lost the decision, but won the night, outlanding Fury 37-32 in power shots and dropping Fury in round 3. Fury had a 71-59 edge in landed punches. Ngannou might want back the last 2 rounds, when he landed just 6 of 38 punches to 13 of 37 for Fury. pic.twitter.com/KmusCCvF9I
— CompuBox (@CompuBox) October 28, 2023
Francis Ngannou plans to fight in MMA and boxing bouts moving forward
Francis Ngannou proved that he deserves another high-profile heavyweight boxing match. With that said, Ngannou signed a lucrative contract with the Professional Fighters League to make a return to MMA in 2024.
During the previously mentioned interview with Brett Okamoto, Ngannou had this to say about what’s next in his fighting career:
“Combination. I can do both. Nothing can stop me from doing both. If I have the skills for both of them, why not? As for right now, I have a deal with PFL, and I am intending to fight MMA again. I love it…I might do some MMA fights, but I’m still going to do boxing. I never intend to step over and just do one fight and go out. That wasn’t the plan, never. So, the plan is still the same.”
At 37 years old, Francis Ngannou has launched a new chapter in his combat sports journey. He now has an opportunity to continue creating generational wealth through boxing while extending his legacy in MMA. It’ll be intriguing to see what’s next for ‘The Predator.’
Watch Francis Ngannou’s entire interview with Brett Okamoto below:
