Scott Coker is optimistic that Bellator can land Francis Ngannou.
Since his departure from the UFC, Francis Ngannou has been the most talked about and sought-after free agent in MMA. He left the UFC at the beginning of this year in search of bigger fight opportunities. Ngannou was the heavyweight champion at the time and relinquished his belt to follow his passion to try boxing. Since leaving the UFC he has been talking about participating in a boxing match against some of the sport’s top-ranked heavyweights. After this happens, which he is sure it will, he plans on returning to MMA. But where could he possibly land?
Bellator along with Showtime boxing would be a good fit for Ngannou according to Scott Coker
For many years it was said that Bellator was the second-best MMA promotion in the world right behind the UFC. Recently though they have been signing many big-name fighters. Many former UFC fighters have made the move over to Bellator including Cris Cyborg, Corey Anderson, Yoel Romero, and more. Coker has stated that his people have been in discussions with Ngannou’s people and can see a scenario where a deal could be made.
“My guys have been talking to Francis, I know they’ve met. Stephen met with him on the boxing side. I’ve always said it’d be a perfect fit for him because he could do boxing, he could do MMA,” he said via MMA Junkie. “but I don’t think that there’s anything close to a deal being presented back and forth. So, let’s see what happens.
In addition to signing to fight in MMA, Bellator has a relationship with Showtime boxing which could be a good fit for Ngannou and his passion to try out the sport of boxing. Signing with Bellator could give him the freedom to do both.
“Anything can happen, but I’m not sure we’re gonna be in that business on the MMA side, maybe on the boxing side, it might work out. To me, it has to be equitable for everybody, and that’s how I feel,” he said. “We have a pretty robust purse amount every year, and we can spread that around, we can take a lot of that purse and pay our guys, and sign other fighters, and keep building divisions, right? So to me, I’d say it’s 50/50 at this point.”
Although Coker is optimistic that a deal could be done at this point it doesn’t seem to be moving forward. Ngannou first and foremost wants to try a boxing match against the likes of Tyson Fury or Anthony Joshua. After that fight is over that is when he may start to sign a deal to return to MMA.
