JAKARTA - The last time Francis Ngannou stepped into the octagon was last January when he successfully defended his heavyweight championship against former training partner Ciryl Gane at UFC 270.
Since then, speculation has started to surface about the Cameroonian fighter's future, as his desire is to test his abilities against opponents from other organizations and even from other sports such as boxing.
At the age of 35, Ngannou's mind was focused on being part of a big duel that would make big money in one go. Something that may take him several years to achieve in the UFC.
Under this approach, Gladiator Ebony is looking to take on Tyson Fury, despite the fact that last weekend Gypsy King said goodbye to professional boxing.
In this case, he informed UFC president Dana White that a possible fight with Fury should be factored into his contract, otherwise he is willing to fight himself.
“The fight against Tyson Fury should be part of the discussion. That's not an option. It should be part of the discussion, because otherwise it never will. If I sign another contract now, and it's basically the same contract model, I'm screwed. So we have to find a way to implement this in a contract," Ngannou was quoted as saying by Marca, Thursday.
Ngannou explained his wish is to stay longer in the mixed martial arts (MMA) world, but first he wants to test his skills against extremely complex fighters.
"I think the UFC is a great promotion and I want to keep fighting. Tyson Fury is not my last fight. There's still a lot out there. There's Jon Jones, there's a trilogy with Stipe Miocic, so I'd really like to see that happen."
Meanwhile, Fury has also publicly stated to measure the strength of opponents such as Cameroon's fighter, Ngannou.
"Francis Ngannou is on my hit list in exhibition fights. whenever he wants: at home, in the boxing ring, boxing gloves, UFC gloves, we can make it happen," he believes.
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