By Harry Davies
Francis Ngannou will return to MMA in late summer after being knocked out by Anthony Joshua in his latest boxing fight.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou was dropped twice by 'AJ' in their heavyweight showdown earlier this month before being brutally stopped in the second round. Ngannou has since produced a lengthy list of excuses for his defeat, blaming his early arrival time to the arena as one of the reasons he felt tired on the night.
Ngannou would have secured himself an undisputed heavyweight title fight against Tyson Fury or Oleksandr Usyk if he beat Joshua, but his defeat means he will be back in the cage sooner than expected. The Cameroonian will now fight Renan Ferreira in his PFL debut as the promotion's founder Donn Davis gave an update on the heavyweight's return.
“People asked me before the [Joshua] fight ‘Who do I think will win? Who would I want to win?’ Obviously I root for Francis all the time,” Davis said on The MMA Hour. “He’s our partner and I truly do but he would not have fought in MMA until the first quarter of 2025 [if he won].
"We talked to him about that, and I was very vocal about that, that he would have absolutely fought, but it would have been December at the earliest, more likely February. He was locked in but he would have then gone ahead to fight Fury, as we all said, had he won this fight. It would have delayed [his PFL debut].
"I’m rooting for Francis all the time, but now he’s coming back early. Will it be as early as July? Maybe. Will it be as late as September? No later, but you’ll see Francis now in 2024, in PFL, against Renan Ferreira in what I believe is going to be the fight I’m looking forward to the most in the heavyweight division of all of MMA.”
Ngannou earned around $20million for his loss to Joshua and will take a big pay cut for making his PFL debut against Ferreira, who has been guaranteed a minimum of $2m for the fight. Ngannou hasn't fought in MMA since defending his UFC heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane in January 2022.
