It wasn’t all that long ago when Dana White gushed over Francis Ngannou’s punching power being the hardest ever recorded by a human being. “It’s like being hit by a Ford Focus going full speed.”
Yet it didn’t take long until Francis felt such a titanic punch himself, but rather from a human being, it came from reality.
As is unfortunately the case with many a big headed athlete, after knocking out Stipe Miocic to become UFC heavyweight champion, Ngannou simply flew too close to the sun, resulting in a guillotined UFC contract, and a very irate Dana White. White claimed Ngannou refused to fight Jon Jones, he demanded too much money, and he was difficult to work with.
Then Ngannou put on perhaps the most shocking performance of the century, by nearly upsetting Tyson Fury (when Fury was still undefeated) in his first ever boxing match, a match which many say should have been given to Ngannou. Was the boxing ring where Ngannou secretly belonged all along? Such speculations were quickly thwarted a few months later, when Ngannou was laid unconscious by Anthony Joshua. He may hit hard. He may be scary. But the boxing ring proved an all too dangerously unfamiliar terrain. And upon the vicious defeat, Dana White quickly gloated, “You know what I think about MMA fighters crossing over into boxing.” Ouch.
Which leads us to today.
Francis Ngannou is abandoning boxing and returning to the MMA cage and will be taking on current PFL Heavyweight champion, Renan Ferreira, on October 19 in a yet to be announced location. And the pre-fight press conference, taking place on August 22, will be hosted by YouTuber turned “boxer”, Jake Paul, in Washington DC. Paul has been lobbying for a boxing match against Conor McGregor and is now signed under the PFL banner, although his future with the organisation remains relatively unclear, especially considering his tentative fight with Mike Tyson. Still, yet ever the showman, his hosting abilities at the pre-fight press conference will presumably be quite entertaining.
Although the cage is clearly where Ngannou belongs, his opponent, the towering 6’8 Brazilian Renan Ferreira, won the heavyweight title by torching Ryan Bader in just 21 seconds earlier this year in Riyadh. Ferreira is an expert striker with knockout power that may, or may not, rival Ngannou’s own. He’s also been solely focused on MMA, whereas Ngannou has stuck to boxing. Yes, Dana said MMA fighters should not go into boxing. But boxers stepping foot into the cage? A far more serious assault.
Much like Brock Lesnar, Ngannou remains etched in our minds because he looks like he was created in a laboratory with one purpose: defeat The Avengers. Truth be told, if his MMA return doesn’t pay off, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him playing “Bouncer number 2” in the next John Wick/Avengers/Fast & Furious/Expendables sequel in the not too distant future. And better yet, don’t be surprised if Jake Paul offers him a boxing match later down the line. Being the promoter he is, if the Mike Tyson fight doesn’t happen, Paul would probably float the offer to Ngannou. Win, lose or draw, Ngannou would leave with his pockets full. And heck, I’d be pumped to see that.
But for now, best of luck in October. Jon Jones will be watching. Even if that fight never happens.
