Francis Ngannou will return to MMA after Anthony Joshua fight
The former UFC heavyweight champion is set to face the winner of Renan Ferreira vs Ryan Bader, according to the PFL
Francis Ngannou will face the winner of Renan Ferreira vs Ryan Bader in the PFL after fighting Anthony Joshua on March 8th in Saudi Arabia.
Despite leaving the UFC in January 2023 and being stripped of the UFC heavyweight title, Ngannou is set to have his first MMA bout in over two years.
The news comes after Ngannou reinvented himself as a heavyweight boxer by sharing the ring with Tyson Fury last October and almost emerging victorious via split decision.
But even though Ngannou is two weeks away from fighting Joshua at the Kingdom Arena, the Cameroonian might be eyeing a permanent return to the cage this year following two astronomical paydays in professional boxing.
Ngannou made over $10 million to face Fury and is predicted to earn at least $20 million against Anthony Joshua.
‘The Predator’ generated more money from one professional boxing contest with Fury than in his entire MMA career and after Joshua, Ngannou will surpass the career earnings of some all-time UFC stars such as Khabib Nurmagomedov and Anderson Silva.
UFC president Dana White and Ngannou reportedly fell out over pay which led to Ngannou opting to leave the UFC and signing with the PFL who offered him a base pay of $2 million.
Meanwhile, Joshua will hope to keep his momentum going following a resurgent 2023 where he captured three consecutive wins against Jermaine Franklin Jr, Robert Helenius, and Otto Wallin.
‘AJ’ will get over $50 million for his fight with Ngannou, yet the Brit has previously stated he wants to become a three-time world champion which could mean facing the winner of Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk on May 18th.
Joshua-Ngannou is set to be another massive event with Zhilei Zhang vs Joseph Parker and Rey Vargas vs Nick Ball for the WBC featherweight championship on the undercard.
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About Daniele D’Alessio: Over the last few years Dan has written hundreds of articles for websites such as GiveMeSport, Sportskeeda, WorldInSport, NY Fights and Fights ATW in addition to conducting several interviews with professional and amateur boxers.