Francis Ngannou has inserted himself into the baddest man on the planet fray, calling out Tyson Fury. He even got an assist from PFL promotion mate Jake Paul. This all comes in the midst of Fury’s verbal battle with UFC champ Jon Jones, which was kicked off by podcaster Joe Rogan.
Confused? Sure, who wouldn’t be by this social media maelstrom.
How the whole Tyson Fury debacle began with Jon Jones
This all started when Joe Rogan talked about the mythical baddest man on the planet designation. Jon Jones has laid claim to it and so has Tyson Fury. Rogan, however, posited that Jones would win all day in a real fight with Fury, making him the baddest man on the planet.
That led to Fury and Jones jabbering with each other on social media and via interviews, each puffing his chest and daring the other to fight them on their home turf.
Even UFC president Dana White recently joined fray, respectfully telling Fury that Jones was the baddest man on the planet, but that he’d be willing to promote a fight between them to put the matter to rest.
“I’m telling Tyson Fury, whom I respect very much, if you really want to find out who the baddest man on the planet is, I will make that fight. I will make Jon Jones vs. Tyson Fury in the Octagon,” White stated following UFC Vegas 74.
“We figured out how to pay Floyd (Mayweather when he boxed Conor McGregor). We’ll figure out how to pay you too, Tyson. The offer is out there.”
Dana White offers Jon Jones vs. Tyson Fury fight: ‘Let’s do it!’
So how did Francis Ngannou become involved with Tyson Fury?
There was a time when White considered Ngannou to be the baddest man on the planet. Not coincidentally, that was when Ngannou held the UFC heavyweight belt and White was his promoter.
The designation of baddest man on the planet, when it comes to MMA, is typically reserved for whomever holds the UFC heavyweight championship at the moment.
Ngannou finished out his contract and walked away from the UFC never having lost the belt. He then brokered a groundbreaking deal with the PFL. The PFL deal not only sets them as his MMA promoter, but also gave him a small ownership stake, a leadership role in the company, and allowed him to pursue boxing bouts.
In his own eyes, Ngannou is still the baddest man on the planet. He also wants to pursue boxing. Ngannou has received little interest from high profile boxers Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua. So with Fury engaging with Jones, Ngannou pounced on an opportunity to try and drum up a marquee boxing match.
Ngannou posted a video on Twitter of him hitting a speed bag. He later added, “Stop talking, Tyson, and come try. I’m already doing you a favor using your gloves and your rules because your limited skill set.”
Tyson Fury hadn’t responded as of the time of publication, but that hasn’t kept Ngannou’s PFL stablemate Jake Paul silent.
What Jake Paul is saying about Francis Ngannou vs. Tyson Fury
YouTube celebrity turned pro boxer Jake Paul has inked his own deal with PFL. Being under the same umbrella as Ngannou, Paul was more than happy to chime in on the whole baddest man on the planet debate. It probably was a bonus for Paul that he could continue taking digs at White, whom he has often had sharp words for.
“Wasn’t Dana the same person that said, ‘If I’m Jon Jones watching Francis Ngannou, I’m moving to 185 pounds.’?” Yes, he 100% was. So…
“Francis Ngannou is the baddest man on the planet. Dana confirmed that while he controlled Francis,” Paul wrote on Twitter.
“Dana sits there talking about ‘I don’t do gimmick fights. That’s not what we do over here.’ Then announces an arbitrary belt to try and steal away attention from Francis joining PFL and now desperate trying to book Tyson Fury to come into the cage.
“And you didn’t pay Floyd. You paid Conor.”
Francis Ngannou calls out Tyson Fury with a Jake Paul assist
