If Francis Ngannou is to be asked, he’d rather have a rematch with Tyson Fury than a fight with UFC heavyweight king Jon Jones. Though the choice might suggest that the former UFC star is now prioritizing boxing over his original sport, “The Predator” stressed that he’s “not done with MMA.”
Ngannou is set to face Anthony Joshua on March 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This will be the second professional boxing match of Ngannou, who impressed the industry after giving Fury a hard time in their boxing bout last October. To recall, the MMA star lost to Fury in the bout via split decision but managed to drop the opponent in the third round of the fight. With the judges divided in their choices, Ngannou earlier claimed that he won the fight.
Unsurprisingly, the Cameroonian-French wants to have a rematch, sharing in an earlier statement that it was already announced right after their first fight. And if he is to choose, this is the fight he would want to have instead of an MMA bout versus Jones. Although the battle with “Bones” will be monumental, as it has been going on for years now, Ngannou thinks his “unfinished business” with Fury is more tempting.
“Rematch against Fury,” Ngannou answered DAZN when asked about his choices. “Rematch against Fury, because I have a taste of unfinished business. I wasn’t mad after the decision, but I still have this feeling of injustice. When you feel something wasn’t right, wasn’t just, I still have that feeling. I won the fight. I believe that I won the fight. … That doesn’t matter at this point, but still I have that feeling and I really think I can do better.”
With his answer, MMA fans would think that the fighter is now making his departure from the MMA industry. Ngannou’s last fight was against Ciryl Gane in January 2022 when he was still with the UFC. However, even if he’s already signed under PFL and is now an executive in the promotion, the 37-year-old still hasn’t returned to the MMA cage. Recently, Ngannoun also expressed doubt about the “strong possibility” of him making an MMA comeback, which further fueled fans’ concern about his MMA career.
Yet, for Ngannou, his career in MMA is not over yet. Despite the lack of details for his next MMA fight, the fighter reassured fans that he’s still coming back, adding his focus is both in the MMA and boxing.
“It’s a combination,” Ngannou said when asked to choose between the two sports. “I’m a guy who fights, I mean, I don’t really like to get hit, but I like to hit people. Anytime when there’s some good person to hit in a big fight, ring me up, I will come and try to hit and not get hit. That’s what matters.
“At this point, I’m not done with MMA. I can tell you that I’m not done with MMA, because I still believe that there’s still some great fights out there that I can still offer fans. My MMA fans were my base, who also helped me to get to this position, so I’m still thinking about how to work with that community.”
