Francis Ngannou recently appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast and spilled some intriguing beans to the world. The former UFC heavyweight champion spoke about his devastating knockout loss against Anthony Joshua. Now, four months after the fight, Ngannou recalled some of the struggles he faced before the fight.
On the 8th of March, Francis Ngannou and Anthony Joshua clashed against each other. The two-time former unified heavyweight champion left no crumbs while beating Ngannou. The Brit landed a huge right hand in the second round and knocked Ngannou out. During the discussions with Joe Rogan, the 37-year-old fighter recalled the mind games he went through during the Joshua fight.
Fight day, we receive an email. Pickup time: 10:30 from the hotel. And when they say 10:30, by 10:20 there’s a car at your door waiting. The supposed fight time is between midnight to 1. We get to the arena at 10:45. A producer comes into the locker room, says, ‘Oh, guy, we are running late on the broadcast. Now we’re gonna go around 1:45.’ I’m like okay, 1:45. It’s 10:45. 3 hours. Okay.
Francis Ngannou via The Joe Rogan Experience #160
Ngannou was called three hours earlier to the arena, whereas Anthony Joshua arrived just right before the fight. The French-Cameroonian also expressed he felt tired due to all the shady games the promoters played. However, Ngannou never blamed Joshua for all this. The ‘Predator’ believed that promoters Queensberry and Matchroom fixed an improper schedule for him.
However, it has been four months since that incident, and Ngannou has looked forward to better opportunities in his career. Recently, he announced his comeback to MMA. He will soon make his PFL debut against the formidable Brazilian Renan Ferreira. Interestingly, before this fight, the 37-year-old had also looked for an opportunity to fight another heavyweight boxer.
A potential Francis Ngannou vs. Deontay Wilder fight?
Deontay Wilder is a popular heavyweight boxer. The 38-year-old American boxer was undefeated till 2019. However, following his defeat against Tyson Fury in 2020, ’The Bronze Bomber’ is 1-4 in his last five professional boxing bouts. Francis Ngannou has recently shown his interest in boxing. Wilder didn’t leave his chance to spark a big money fight between him and Ngannou.
Deontay Wilder wants to fight Francis Ngannou (via X)Interestingly, The Bronze Bomber insisted on having a two-fight deal, one in boxing and the other in MMA, with the PFL star. Initially, Ngannou rejected the idea of taking an MMA fight with the American. However, in a podcast episode of MMAFighting, Ngannou spoke about his and Wilder’s potential fight.
We have spoken about that, that has been in discussions. That’s something that can potentially happen. Wilder for a little while now has been training MMA. He’s really serious about MMA.
Francis Ngannou via The MMAfighting
Francis Ngannou on a potential MMA fight vs Deontay Wilder: “We have spoken about that, that has been in discussions. That’s something that can potentially happen. Wilder for a little while now has been training MMA. He’s really serious about the MMA.” [@MMAFighting] pic.twitter.com/P1q2frpskT
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) October 30, 2023
There is still a long way to go before that fight materializes. As of now, Deontay Wilder is coming off a devastating loss, courtesy of Zhilei Zhang. On the other hand, Ngannou is looking forward to making his long-awaited PFL debut in October. Now, it remains to be seen whether Ngannou would like to take on a pro boxer again, keeping in mind he is 0-2 against professional boxers.
