Ngannou Plots Post-Joshua: ‘I’m Fighting Fury. Period’

Francis Ngannou is poised for another massive year in combat sports.

“The Predator” made his dreams come true in 2023 when he found fighting freedom outside Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The promotion’s former Heavyweight champion signed a mixed martial arts (MMA) deal with Professional Fighters League (PFL), allowing him the flexibility to also compete in boxing.

The professional boxing debut for Ngannou ultimately came in October 2023 opposite one of the world’s best, Tyson Fury, and saw Ngannou do far better than anyone anticipated. Ngannou made the fight competitive enough to get the win on one judge’s scorecard, but lost on the other two’s, which gave him a split decision loss overall (watch highlights). He’s now set to make his sophomore boxing appearance against Anthony Joshua back in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on March 9, 2024. After that, Ngannou guarantees his rematch awaits him.

“I win this fight, I’m fighting Fury. Period,” Ngannou said on The MMA Hour. “Whether or not he has the belt. The thing with the title is this is a system I don’t want to fall into anymore. It’s like, okay, when you start a run, you have to make conversation with maybe an organization or a title belt organization, you have to fit into something, and I just want to be free and fight. I don’t want to owe anything to anybody or to respond to anybody, right?

“I don’t want that political stuff like with the title and this,” he continued. “Obviously, if the title is on the line and no strings attached, yes, of course. I will grab it. It’s good for the decoration.”

Ngannou last fought in MMA when he successfully defended his UFC title with a unanimous decision win over Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 in January 2022 (watch highlights). With the continued foray into boxing, it’s left the MMA world contemplating whether or not he’ll ever return and debut for PFL.

“It doesn’t affect it at all,” Ngannou said of the Joshua match and his PFL debut in 2024. “Because, first of all, when I received a call and an offer for this fight, what happened [was] I reached out to PFL and told them because we’re in the business together. They gave me their blessing for the opportunity that said we can take this kind of opportunity out of you, so, I was happy to do that.

“I didn’t want to know what else they want to say as long as they didn’t have any problem with this,” he laughed. “Possibility [I fight in MMA this year]? Yes. Strong? I don’t know. As I said, before this fight, nothing was certain yet. There’s a chance [I just fight in boxing twice this year].”