Francis Ngannou’s future: what should be next?

Francis Ngannou has achieved great success in combat sports – but many fans and pundits are wondering what exactly is next for him at the age of 38.

The man known as ‘The Predator’ has been there and done it all. In the Ultimate Fighting Championship, he enjoyed an incredible rise that led him down the path of becoming UFC heavyweight champion. While he ultimately left the company due to financial disputes, he still put forward the kind of run that should eventually gift him a place in the UFC Hall of Fame.

Then, after understanding just how much he brought to the table financially, he decided to take his talents to the world of professional boxing. Alas, he didn’t take the conventional path that many do, and was instead thrust straight into a blockbuster crossover showdown with none other than Tyson Fury.

To the surprise of quite literally everyone watching, he had immense success in their fight and was even able to drop ‘The Gypsy King’. Yes, he came out on the losing end of a close decision, but it was still the kind of outing that gave many people confidence about his long-term future in the sport.

The Francis Ngannou dilemma

From there, he opted to battle it out with Anthony Joshua. Unfortunately, that contest wasn’t nearly as competitive, with Francis Ngannou getting knocked out cold for the first time in his career.

Then, he proceeded to transition back over to mixed martial arts with PFL, defeating Renan Ferreira to become champion.

Now, the question is simple: what’s next? It legitimately feels like he’s accomplished everything he set out to in mixed martial arts, so in our mind, another run in boxing is what makes the most sense. There are still plenty of thrilling, enticing matchups out there for him and although some may argue they would be mismatches after the Joshua loss, nobody can forget what he did to Tyson Fury.

It may seem outlandish, but that’s the direction we want – and expect – Francis Ngannou to go in.