UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has confirmed that he wants to continue his mixed martial arts career.
The last few days have been something of a whirlwind for Francis Ngannou, which is a strange position for an injured fighter to be in.
‘The Predator’ attended the blockbuster fight between Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte last Saturday night and after Fury knocked Whyte out with a vicious uppercut, Ngannou was welcomed into the ring by ‘The Gypsy King’.
The two men proceeded to tease the idea of an exhibition boxing match between them and while some don’t believe it’ll happen, others think it could take place as soon as late 2022.
It’s no secret that Ngannou has had some issues with the UFC regarding his contract in recent times, but despite that, he made it clear in an interview with Ariel Helwani that he still intends to keep fighting in MMA.
“I think the UFC is a great promotion and I want to keep fighting. Tyson Fury is not my last fight. I want to keep fighting after Tyson Fury. There’s still a lot of fights out there. There’s Jon Jones, there’s a trilogy with Stipe [Miocic], there’s big fight I can do in the UFC, so I would really like that to happen. I would really like also to get to a common point.
“Yes, I can do Tyson Fury on my own, but what next? I would like to keep fighting. I would like for us to come to an agreement, but for that they have to have a good understanding of the situation.”
“My contract situation is not a roadblock because either way, my contract situation will not stop me from fighting.
“So I think it’s pretty easy. Tyson Fury’s contract situation as well is coming up soon, therefore, there’s nothing that can hold us from doing it.”
When did Ngannou last compete?
The 35-year-old king of the heavyweights last fought back in January at UFC 270. On that night, he overcame some early adversity to defeat Ciryl Gane and retain the belt he’d captured from Stipe Miocic just 10 months prior.
If he does return, the popular opinion is that a showdown with 205-pound GOAT Jon Jones awaits.