MMA legend Don Frye may be 55 years old but he’s willing to throw down with UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou.
Frye developed a reputation for being tough throughout his pro MMA career. Most fans will remember him for his PRIDE FC brawl with Yoshihiro Takayama back in June 2002. Frye won that bout via TKO past the six-minute mark.
While he hasn’t had a pro MMA bout since December 2011, Frye recently told Joe Rogan that he wants to mix things up with Ngannou (h/t Essentially Sports).
“I’d like to [compete again]. I’m going to go down there to Columbia and the plan on that is to do that and hopefully make a comeback. Sh*t yeah. I’d love to fight Ngannou, yeah, he’s amazing.”
Frye also made it clear that he isn’t interested in fighting a fellow MMA old-timer or boxing veteran close to his age.
“Why? [Should I fight someone my age]. They don’t have the belt, do they? If I get my back fixed up, I’m there. I’ve had probably 5 or 6 major back surgeries and then 15-20 related [surgeries] cause infections and things like that. And the infections tried to get me a couple of times…One time I had it inside the spinal cord.”
Fighting Francis Ngannou is quite the task these days. Not only does he have one-punch knockout power, but he also appears to have elevated his game in terms of takedown defense as we saw in the rematch with Stipe Miocic.
Ngannou’s next fight hasn’t been made official. UFC President Dana White wants to book Ngannou vs. Derrick Lewis 2. “The Predator” doesn’t like that idea and prefers to fight former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones next.
