Francis Ngannou will be heading back to MMA after his bout with Anthony Joshua, which will be live on Sky Sports Box Office on March 8.
The Professional Fighters League (PFL) has announced that Ngannou will make his PFL debut against the winner of the Heavyweight Superfight between Renan Ferreira and Ryan Bader.
Ngannou signed with the PFL in May, just a couple of months before his split decision loss to Fury after 10 tough rounds in his first boxing fight.
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Former World Champion and MMA fan Enzo Maccarinelli discusses how Francis Ngannou has evolved from the MMA cage to the boxing ring
Fury was sent to the canvas by Ngannou in the third round of the bout and now, Ngannou is in Saudi Arabia again as he trains for his fight against two-time unified champion Joshua, which is live on Sky Sports Box Office.
“Francis is a true combat sports icon with a global fan base and appeal. We, along with the rest of the MMA world, will be watching to see who his first opponent will be, Ferreira or Bader,” said Peter Murray, PFL CEO.
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Former cruiserweight world champion Johnny Nelson believes it would be the end of Anthony Joshua’s career if the Brit loses to Francis Ngannou but says he can’t see anything but a victory for AJ
Claressa Shields, the boxing star who also competes in MMA, expects Joshua vs Ngannou to be a close fight. In fact, she thinks it will be so tight she is tipping it to be a split decision.
“I think it’s going to be a good fight. At first I kind of felt that AJ was going to knock out Ngannou, that’s how I saw the fight. Now it’s kind of shifted on, I feel like it’ll be a split decision going either guy’s way,” Shields told Sky Sports.
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Barry Jones and Enzo Maccarinelli agree that Anthony Joshua has regained his confidence which is bad news for Francis Ngannou
“I say that because it feels like AJ has a lot to prove and I feel like when he’s got a lot to prove sometimes he puts too much pressure on himself and he doesn’t fight his fight. And if he doesn’t fight his fight against Francis, Francis is a big, strong and powerful guy too so it can be a closer fight.
“I believe that AJ has everything in the tank to beat Francis. He just has to do it.”
Watch Joshua vs Ngannou live on Sky Sports Box Office on March 8.