“Do that in Africa” – Dana White himself was down to Francis Ngannou vs Deontay Wilder before the rift with heavyweight champ

Heavyweight boxer, Deontay Wilder recalls discussing potential fight with Francis Ngannou in boxing and MMA before Ngannou's departure from the UFC.

“Do that in Africa” – Dana White himself was down to Francis Ngannou vs Deontay Wilder before the rift with heavyweight champ

(Image Courtesy - Show Time Boxing/ Twitter)

In a recent interview with Trill Boxing Talk, former boxing heavyweight champion, Deontay Wilder revealed that UFC President, Dana White was ready to schedule a fight with Francis Ngannou. Wilder discussed Dana White’s interest in making the fight happen a long time back.

The former UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou who shockingly departed from the UFC amid long-term contractual disagreements was in talks to fight Deontay Wilder. “It was a long time back. Back then Francis was with Dana White…Dana was ready to make that happen,” Wilder recalled.

https://youtu.be/KfzmSf56ekE

Since leaving the UFC, Ngannou has been a free agent and is in talks with different boxing promotions to set him up with a mega fight. The Cameroonian heavyweight has a list of boxers he could go up against. Recently, Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua, and Dyllian Whyte have expressed interest in fighting Ngannou.

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Francis Ngannou is currently the scariest heavyweight on the planet whose one-punch power is often compared to being hit by a Ford Escort. This means that despite superior skills in striking, boxers would still find it challenging to hold up against Nganou’s knockout power.

Before his rift with the UFC, Ngannou was in talks to fight the former light-heavyweight champion, Jon Jones. However, due to contractual disagreements and smaller monetary rewards, Ngannou decided to leave the UFC. Apparently, Ngannou revealed that he wanted “freedom” more than money which UFC’s contract didn’t provide.

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Potential opponents for Francis Ngannou following UFC departure and UFC 285 announcements

Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou after Fury vs Wilder III (Image Courtesy – Show Time Boxing/ YouTube)

At the post-fight presser of UFC Fight Night 68, Dana White made a shocking announcement that shook the MMA community. The UFC boss revealed that then-heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou had decided to leave the UFC due to disagreements with the promotion.

To make up for Ngannou’s departure, Jon Jones who was previously expected to fight Ngannou was scheduled against Ciry Gane at UFC 285. This left fans wondering who Ngannou’s next opponent could be, now that he had become a free agent.

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Ngannou’s furious knockouts have made him one of the biggest possible draws in the fight business. However, despite his face value, the fighter has never received satisfactory compensation from the UFC. As a free agent now, Ngannou can definitely get into boxing and fight some of the biggest heavyweight names.

In fact, Ngannou himself has teased some of his potential opponents over Twitter. British boxing promoter, Eddie Hearn revealed in an interview with Ariel Helwani that Ngannou is now being offered gigantic sums of money to go up against boxers like Dyllian Whyte, Anthony Joshua, and Tyson Fury.

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