Following his return to MMA at PFL's Battle of the Giants in October, there has been a lot of conversation regarding what will be next for Francis Ngannou. His first-round finish over Renan Ferreira doesn't leave a whole lot of interesting matchups for him in MMA but he does have the option of going back to boxing for his next contest.
Ngannou has boxed twice since departing the UFC in January of 2023 and though he is without a win on his pro record, a lot of fans thought that he should have got his hand raised against Tyson Fury back in October last year. One name that has consistently been mentioned in connection with the former UFC heavyweight champion is Deontay Wilder.
"The Bronze Bomber" is still one of the biggest names in the heavyweight division but following his recent form, he would seemingly be a better opponent for Ngannou than the likes of Fury and Anthony Joshua. Wilder has not looked the same in his latest outings and losses against Zhilei Zhang and Joseph Parker and though it looked like he might retire, the knockout artist appears to be gearing up for one more.
In a recent interview with The Sports Daily, former world champion turned analyst Amir Khan said that he would pick Ngannou to win that fight if he does get booked to face Wilder next time out. Based on his back-to-back losses, Khan isn't sure whether Wilder has the same hunger anymore and getting in the ring with Ngannou is a dangerous prospect to begin with.
Wilder’s last fight was really bad. You always look at the last fight and Wilder is done to be honest with you. I like Wilder but Ngannou has the power to hurt him.
"Ngannou is not the best boxer but he put on a good fight against Fury and got knocked out against AJ. Ngannou is going to win that fight. Unless Wilder comes in as a different fighter with that fire in his belly.