Francis Ngannou can’t still make a promise on whether he will make his MMA return this year. For “The Predator,” the focus now is his boxing career, with the fighter stressing his plan for a rematch with Tyson Fury.
Ngannou certainly realized how ample opportunities are in the boxing world. And with his performance against Fury impressing the industry, the MMA star doesn’t find it hard to get boxing matches with other professional boxers.
Currently, Ngannou is set to fight Anthony Joshua on March 9 in Saudi Arabia. After this, the fighter is planning to have a rematch with Fury, who defeated him in his first boxing bout. With these plans and the months of preparation for the said matches, it is unsurprising why the Cameroonian-French might spend the entire year in the boxing ring. Ngannou is not denying this, saying that while he could return to the MMA this year, it is still not 100% certain.
“Possibility, yes. Strong possibility, I don’t know,” Ngannou said on The MMA Hour while talking about his 2024 MMA return and stressing his plan with Fury. “As I said, even before this fight, nothing was certain yet.
“I win this fight, I’m fighting Fury –period. Whether or not he has the belt.
“There has always been talk about that – always. Even after the fight, the Minister stepped in the ring and said, ‘Get ready for the rematch.’ It’s going to happen. They have Fury-Usyk going on, so (Joshua) was the opportunity. I was waiting for Fury, but this was the opportunity that I was happy to take. At the end of the day, this won’t take anything from the Fury rematch.”
Ngannou is currently signed with PFL, but he revealed that the promotion has always been very supportive of his boxing aspirations. PFL CEO Peter Murray also assured fans that the fighter is still committed to his MMA dreams under PFL, promising Ngannou is getting back in the cage this year for its Super Fights division despite the fighter’s earlier comment.
“Yeah, he’s got a big fight coming up now with (Joshua), right, on the heels of shocking the world and Tyson Fury,” Murray said. “We’re really proud and happy for Francis, but he will be returning to the cage later this year after the Joshua fight, so we’re putting that fight together, and Francis is going to take on both sports, and it’s just been incredible to watch his journey, and more to come there.”