Francis Ngannou certainly doesn’t get paid by the hour.
After a near three-year absence from mixed martial arts, ‘The Predator’ returned to the cage on October 19th in the headline slot of the PFL’s Battle of the Giants card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where he needed just over three-and-a-half minutes to end Renan Ferreira’s night following a barrage of punches on the ground after he took his Brazilian opponent to the canvas in the early exchanges.
And now that he’s back in the win column after two losses in his first two professional boxing matches against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, Ngannou says he doesn’t quite know his next move but that he will be back in action in the first half of next year — in either boxing or MMA.
Francis Ngannou shares his thoughts on what is next for him.
He plans to return in Q2 of 2025. Who should be his opponent?#HelwaniShow pic.twitter.com/qBV41SgHtu
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 21, 2024
“It could be either one, I don’t know yet.I don’t have any hand in that one. I don’t have a decision,” Ngannou told Ariel Helwani. “I think it also depends on promotion. I don’t know. If next, PFL, they come up with something with a fight or a date, maybe we’ll work on it. If it’s boxing, same thing.
“I don’t really have a preference [for which sport], I just think it’s going to be next year … Maybe the first half, second quarter,” he added.
Of course, Ngannou will have no shortage of opponents in the PFL — especially considering the guaranteed $2 million purse that his opponents were guaranteed as part of Ngannou’s contract agreement with the fight league.
“In the PFL, they still do have some names,” he said. “The last guy that beat Renan Ferreira was Ante Delija (24-6), and he’s still there. He was the backup in this fight, so why not?
“Absolutely, I want to do some boxing matches again and some MMA matches.”