Francis Ngannou believes that he and Tyson Fury are likely to meet in the next fights of their respective careers.
Ngannou is the UFC heavyweight champion, while Fury defended his WBC championship on Saturday night against Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium.
After the fight, Ngannou talked to Fury in the ring, and the boxer has suggested he could fight Ngannou in a hybrid-rules fight, as he considers moving into retirement from boxing to chase higher-profile exhibition contests.
"We both want this fight, that's clear, and we respect each other," Ngannou said to the MMA Hour podcast on Monday.
"Probably next year it will happen. I think it's going to happen, it's just a matter of our promotions, but we will sort this out at some point."
Ngannou most recently fought in January when he defeated Cyril Gane, and put forward an idea about how the rules could be adapted to make it a closer fight.
"Make it a hybrid fight, something that makes it a little uncomfortable for him as a boxer," he explained.
"Ideas like MMA gloves or fighting barefoot. I don't know, we still have to figure this out.
"I would say there's a 70% chance my next opponent is Tyson Fury. On his side, I would say 90% against me."