Following his successful return to MMA last month, it isn’t clear yet what Francis Ngannou’s next step will be. There was a lot of pressure and emotion surrounding his long awaited PFL debut against Renan Ferreira.
Not only was Ngannou coming off his first knockout loss where he was stopped by Anthony Joshua in his second boxing match, the former UFC heavyweight champion was motivated to return to competition in the memory of his late son Kobe. Getting his hand raised in the PFL by any means neccesary was his primary focus but after dominating Ferreira and finishing him in the first round, there isn’t a clear next challenge for him in MMA.
Even with a record of 0-2, there are still some big fights left for Ngannou in the boxing world and though it might not be on the same level as his fights with Tyson Fury or Joshua, a meeting with Deontay Wilder would still be a big draw even if both men are coming off of knockout losses in the ring.
Wilder was finished in the fifth round by Zhilei Zhang in June in what looked like could be the final outing of his 48-fight career. “The Bronze Bomber” recently revealed in an interview with TMZ that he’s working towards a return after taking some time off.
“The best is yet to come, I always say that. We’re still going, we’re still here, you know what I mean we just getting things together man. I’m just handling a lot of things, I had a lot of outside distractions that I had to get rid of.”
Wilder also spoke about the potential of facing Ngannou next time out, sending his potential opponent a message of support after the difficult year he has gone through.
“Even since I’ve been off and stuff like that, it’s been a lot of offers coming in, a lot of things, different countries and stuff like that and even with Francis, what’s up brother. I hope everything’s going good for you man and I’m sorry for your loss. I can only imagine what it’s like to lose a child man, I never hope to even feel that feeling of it but I wish, I hope life is going beautifully for you bro and yeah, that’s a conversation I’m still looking to getting in the mix and talk about.”
