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    Mixed Martial Arts

    Donn Davis gives update on Francis Ngannou’s next fight

    Amy Kaplan
    Donn Davis gives update on Francis Ngannou’s next fightTop Rank
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    In 2024, Francis Ngannou returned to MMA to become the new PFL heavyweight champion with an emphatic first-round TKO win. Now PFL co-founder Donn Davis have given fans a glipse of what's next for the star.

    “If I had to guess, I would think boxing would be first given the opportunities he has,” Davis said in an interview with MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck. “I don’t want to say anything about that—that’s his business for him to announce—but he has unbelievable boxing opportunities. So, I think that’s more likely to come first, and MMA is likely to come second. But what I believe you’ll see from Francis this year is one MMA fight in PFL and one boxing match from Francis. So, I think fans of Francis will see him do one of each this year.”

    Ngannou left the UFC and boxed twice, even earning a knockdown over Tyson Fury. Now it seems he might be heading back to the ring in hopes of gettting his first professional boxing win. 

    As for who Ngannou could fight, both a rematch with Fury and potential match-up with Deontay Wilder have been toyed with. 

    "I think he's open to either one. But if I knew, I wouldn't breach my confidence on his boxing stuff," Donn said. "What I know about Francis is A, he's very, very smart, and B, he really doesn't have any fear, as some other fighters do. They prefer things over other things, and I know that from when we talked to him about fighters on the MMA side, he'll say, 'That guy's much harder match up for me. That guy stylistically could be difficult for me,' but he never says, 'I prefer versus I prefer.' He just thinks this could be easier or harder or more difficult or you'd have to train differently, but he's open to everything."

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