Tom Aspinall thinks the quality of Francis Ngannou's PFL opposition could eliminate him from the best heavyweight discussion.
Aspinall, who captured interim UFC gold last year, is currently in pursuit of the undisputed throne formerly occupied by Ngannou. "The Predator" chose to exit the promotion at the start of 2023, and he's since held lineal heavyweight MMA champ status.
Following his departure and subsequent signing with the PFL, Ngannou's sights drifted to the boxing ring, where he battled Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua in back-to-back blockbuster bouts.
Now, though, the Cameroonian is days away from entering the cage once again, and he still expects to do so as the world's best heavyweight.
Aspinall has something to say about that, stating during an appearance on the debut episode of The Ariel Helwani Show on Uncrowned that the competition Ngannou will face outside the UFC could disqualify him from such a category.
Ngannou is set to headline this weekend's PFL pay-per-view in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia opposite 2023 PFL heavyweight title winner Renan Ferreira. The Brazilian is coming off an emphatic first-round knockout of Bellator kingpin Ryan Bader.
While "Problema" is getting plenty of respect from "The Predator," who has even branded himself the underdog, Aspinall insists that Ferreira is far from an "elite" heavyweight.
I have a lot of respect for Francis. And I really appreciate his story. I really appreciate what he's done in the sport," Aspinall said. "But it's hard to debate right now. The guy he's fighting, he's not elite. Do you know what I mean? And the guys he'll be fighting in the future aren't elite, and it's as simple as that. These aren't the best guys in the world.
The guy he's fighting fought a friend of mine, a training partner of mine, Ante Delija, last year. Ante just destroyed him within a minute or two; took him down, ground-and-pounded him, and stopped him within the first minute," Aspinall continued. "The guy isn't elite, his opponent. Yeah he's big, yeah he's powerful, yeah he can knock you out, but he's not an elite heavyweight. I'm not disrespecting him, that's just my honest opinion. The elite guys are not in the PFL. ... It's difficult to say he (Ngannou) is the best heavyweight in the world when he isn't fighting elite guys.
Regardless, Ngannou will have his sights on making a firm statement in his long-awaited return to MMA competition in order to prove that he's not lost a step inside the cage since heading to the ring.
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