
Francis Ngannou in conversations for mixed rules super fight against Tom Aspinall’s champion teammate
Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is looking to get his career moving once again after some considerable time off.
Francis Ngannou last competed in MMA last October when he finally made his long-awaited debut in the PFL after shockingly parting ways with the UFC, leaving his heavyweight title behind.
‘The Predator’ went on to win the PFL heavyweight super fights title after utterly dominating Renan Ferreira, knocking him out inside one round.
However since then, the former UFC heavyweight champion has been out of action as the PFL continues to struggle to find a relevant opponent for him to face.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLCConversations have started for potential Francis Ngannou mixed rules super fightDuring his time on the sidelines, Ngannou teased that he would be interested in a return to the UFC to fight Jon Jones.
However, it was recently announced by UFC boss Dana White that Jones has officially retired from the sport, promoting Tom Aspinall to the undisputed heavyweight champion.
Not only that, but White claimed that he isn’t interested in bringing Ngannou back to the promotion, although it would add some much needed excitement to a division that is lacking.
Although ‘The Predator’ may not get the chance to fight Aspinall, he may in fact get the chance to square off against Aspinall’s kickboxing champion teammate, Rico Verhoeven.
Verhoeven recently defended his GLORY heavyweight title against Artem Vakhitov, marking over a decade as the champion.
The Dutch kickboxer has talked about a potential fight against Ngannou for several months now as he looks to make his debut in MMA.
And he recently admitted that he has already held conversations with the PFL and the Saudis for a potential mixed rules super fight against the former UFC champion.
Verhoeven told Ariel Helwani recently that conversations have begun for a potential mixed rules fight which would include one round in MMA, one round in kickboxing and one round in boxing.
“(The PFL is interested) and the Saudi’s are interested so I think there are a lot of things that might happen and just change combat sports in general,” Verhoeven said.
Who else could Francis Ngannou fight?Ultimately, if Ngannou doesn’t come to an agreement with the PFL for a potential super fight against Verhoeven, there aren’t many other opponents that make sense for him.
And it is because of that, that he has only fought once so far under the PFL banner, easily beating their toughest heavyweight on the roster.
Despite that, ‘The Predator’ continues to tease a potential return to boxing, with Deontay Wilder being the most likely opponent.