After achieving his dream of becoming the UFC champion, in a surprising move, Francis Ngannou walked away from the biggest MMA promotion and signed a contract with the PFL. It’s been a year since he joined the company, yet he has not made his debut. This was because he had been engaged in the boxing world, fighting champions and gaining money and a reputation that he possibly wouldn’t have gotten if he had stayed under the same UFC contract. And after testing the patience of MMA fans for a year, the possible opponent for him has finally been revealed on X, as Renan Ferreira, who stopped Ryan Bader at PFL x Bellator.
Ngannou signed a lucrative deal that granted him equity in the company, freedom to box, sign sponsors, and many other perks. While all these things are good, the big question remains: who and when will he fight next?
The latter question still lacks a solid answer, but addressing the first question, earlier reports suggested that the ‘Predator’ would fight the winner of Ferreira vs. Bader. Now, with ‘Problema’ winning the fight, if everything falls into place, Ngannou will face Ferreira next in his debut.
According to MMA journalist Ariel Helwani, his PFL debut might take place in 2024. However, the timing depends on the March 8 Anthony Joshua fight. If Ngannou wins, they aim for the end of the year. However, if he loses, they plan for late summer.
Indeed, it will be really interesting to see how he is going to return after over 2 years, as the last time he fought was in 2022 against Ciryl Gane. Since then, fans have only seen him fight inside the boxing ring. Ahead of his PFL debut, he will first fight Anthony Joshua.
Francis Ngannou Set to Face Anthony Joshua in Next Challenge
Francis Ngannou, fresh from a tough bout with Tyson Fury, gears up for another heavyweight match, this time against Anthony Joshua. There is no doubt that Ngannou’s performance against Fury earned him praise and respect from the fans.
Now, on March 8, in Riyadh, ‘The Predator’ is stepping into the ring against Joshua, who was initially slated to fight Deontay Wilder. However, Wilder’s recent loss to Joseph Parker made Eddie Hearn go with this mega fight.
Ngannou’s big payday sets the stage for a major fight against Joshua. It is easy to say that this is one of the year’s biggest matchups of this year, and fans are pumped to see how Ngannou will perform in this fight.
If he beats AJ, he’ll become the biggest superstar in combat sports. However, that will not be a cakewalk.
