Francis Ngannou

Following his hugely impressive professional boxing debut, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou said this week that he is willing to wait for the opportunity to have a rematch with heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury.

Speaking to TMZ Sports, Ngannou made it clear that his focus with regard to boxing is on Fury, and as a result, he is fine with waiting until after Fury's scheduled fight against Oleksandr Usyk to face him again:

"I would be willing to wait [for Fury to fight Usyk]. I know that they are going to fight, they had a contract already, so they are going to fight some time in February instead of Dec. 23, which is my fault. ... I shouldn't have cut him. He would've fought Dec. 23, and maybe we would've run it back early next year."

Fury and Usyk were originally scheduled to clash in a bout to determine the undisputed world heavyweight champion on Dec. 23, but per ESPN's Mike Coppinger, they fight is now expected to take place in February in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

As Ngannou alluded to, the fight had to be pushed back due to Fury suffering a cut above his left eye during his narrow victory over Ngannou.

While Ngannou has been a dominant force in MMA over the years, he never had a pro boxing fight before Oct. 28, so Fury was a massive favorite in their bout.

Ngannou pushed Fury to the limit and even knocked him down once, but the WBC heavyweight champion escaped with a split-decision victory and improved his career record to 34-0-1.

Fury vs. Usyk has long been the biggest potential dream match in boxing, as Usyk is the reigning WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, and The Ring heavyweight champion, and boasts a career mark of 21-0.

Something has to give when Fury and Usyk finally meet, and barring a draw or no contest, an undisputed heavyweight champion will be determined.

Ngannou has other opportunities available to him in boxing in the meantime, including a fight with former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, but he made it clear to TMZ that his sights are solely set on Fury, saying: "First of all, it's too soon. Secondly, my focus, as boxing is concerned, is a rematch with Tyson. That's the most important thing for me right now, everything else for boxing comes after."

If Ngannou does fight again before a rematch with Fury, it will likely be inside a cage for the Professional Fighters League MMA promotion.

Ngannou signed with PFL in May after leaving UFC, but has yet to have his first fight for the company.

Given is performance against Fury, Ngannou is one of the hottest commodities in combat sports right now, but there is likely no bigger fight he can have than a boxing rematch with Fury based on how much better and closer their clash was than most expected.

Expect to see Francis Ngannou taking PFL fights in the upcoming year.

"In 2024 [Ngannou] will absolutely make his debut with PFL, and he'll return to the cage and MMA and we're putting that fight together as we speak," PFL's CEO Peter Murray told TMZ Sports. "So we're excited about it."

Ngannou, 37, is fresh off of losing a controversial split decision loss against Tyson Fury last week in his professional boxing debut. The former UFC heavyweight champion even knocked down Fury, the current WBC heavyweight champion, giving him one of his "toughest fights of the last 10 years."

As for Fury's return to MMA, Murray outlined a few big-name opponents for him going forward.

"Francis wants Jon Jones, and Jon Jones wants Francis. Francis wants Stipe [Miocic], and Stipe wants Francis," he said. "And there's a conversation going on with Deontay Wilder, whether it's boxing, whether it's modified rules. That could be exciting, so that's a real consideration."

Francis Ngannou is keeping his options open when it comes to his next fight following his loss to Tyson Fury.

In an interview with TMZ Sports, the PFL star ruled out a clash with Jon Jones due to the torn pectoral Jones recently suffered. He was more enthusiastic about the prospect of opposing Stipe Miocic or heavyweight boxer Deontay Wilder.

PFL CEO Peter Murray told TMZ Sports the plan is to have Ngannou make his debut for the promotion in 2024, and he said the 37-year-old "wants" Jones and Miocic. Murray added that Wilder was under consideration as well, both as a traditional boxing matchup or one with modified rules.

Ngannou's stock has never been higher after he presented a much tougher challenge to Fury than many expected. He knocked the heavyweight champion down in the third round and connected with more power punches, ultimately losing a split decision.

Staging another crossover fight would almost certainly be a massive moneymaker for Ngannou. Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn argued opposing Anthony Joshua would be "one of the biggest fights in the history of the sport" if done right.

There's no question Ngannou opened new doors for himself thanks to his performance against Fury, and he stands to cash in with whatever choice he makes.

Francis Ngannou may not be happy with his split-decision loss to Tyson Fury, but he says he has no plans on appealing the judges' scorecards.

Instead, Ngannou says he wants a rematch to put away Fury once and for all.

"The rematch is what I want next the most," Ngannou told TMZ Sports. "As for right now I feel like there is a lot of options for me, but I want to choose wisely, and I would go for the rematch first."

Ngannou nearly shocked the world in his professional boxing debut, taking the undefeated Fury to the limit over a surprisingly competitive 10-round match. The former UFC star confused Fury with his unorthodox style and was surprisingly patient in the ring, giving the world's top heavyweight everything he could handle in what most expected to be an easy pay day.

"That definitely wasn't in the script," Fury said after the fight. "Francis is a hell of a fighter. Strong, big puncher, and a lot better boxer than we all thought he would ever be. Listen, he's a very awkward man and he's a good puncher, and I respect him a lot. Before the fight and afterward."

"He was very awkward. He wasn't coming forward. He was standing back waiting for me to land my punches and then try to counter. He's a good fighter. He's given me probably one of my toughest fights in the last 10 years."

Ngannou will have to wait if he hopes his next boxing match will come against Fury. The lineal heavyweight champion already has a massive bout with Oleksandr Usyk lined up. Usyk vs. Fury is currently slated for December, though it's unclear if Fury will be recovered in time from his fight with Ngannou to make that date.

The two heavyweights faced off against one another after Fury's win over the weekend, and the pair's fight is slated to be one of the biggest heavyweight prizefights of this generation.

Ngannou may have to keep his fingers crossed that Fury pulls off the victory to set up interest in a rematch down the line.

Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn believes Francis Ngannou needs to strike while the iron is hot on the heels of his high-profile encounter with Tyson Fury.

Hearn said Monday on The MMA Hour that Ngannou should line up a rematch with Fury or challenge another top heavyweight such as Anthony Joshua, which would be an "absolutely massive" event:

For his part, Ngannou said he has had contact with Deontay Wilder about a fight under MMA rules:

Given the massive gulf in boxing experience between he and Fury, many fans wrote Ngannou off heading into last Saturday's clash. Instead, he was a game challenger and sent Fury to the canvas in the third round.

Per CompuBox, the PFL star connected with 59 total punches to 71 for Fury and had a slight 37-32 edge in power punches.

ESPN's Marc Raimondi noted Ngannou received around $10 million from the crossover spectacle, and it stands to reason his paycheck would be even bigger now that he has proven himself in a boxing ring to some degree.

The PFL will be counting on the 37-year-old to make his debut for the promotion at some point, but it's not immediately clear how soon that will be.

Purely in terms of finances, fighting Joshua, Fury or Wilder is far and away his best move. Raimondi wrote how Ngannou's earnings against Fury were "exponentially more than he made in his UFC fights."

Turning down the opportunity will be a tough ask if a formal offer is made.

Francis Ngannou thought he was the clear winner in his highly anticipated fight with boxing star Tyson Fury this past weekend.

In an interview with ESPN's Brett Okamoto, Ngannou argued Fury "would say I won that fight" if the unbeaten heavyweight were being honest.

The MMA veteran went a step further in a video he posted to his YouTube channel. He offered a sharp critique of the judging in his split decision defeat.

"I think it's a shame for boxing though," he said (via MMA Fighting's Jed Meshew). "I think it's a shame for this sport. And those judges or whoever, they should be sanctioned. Again, I want to understand why those judges judge like that, because for me, to be honest, I don't care that much about that decision, but I think those kinds of decisions mess up a lot of people's careers."

Ngannou knocked Fury down in the third round, which came as a bit of a shock to many fans. However, Fury not only landed more blows than Ngannou but also punched more efficiently.

Per Compubox, he connected with 71 total punches with a 31.8 percent success rate compared to 59 and 25.5 percent for his. Ngannou did claim a 37-32 edge in power punches, though.

In the end, Fury won the scorecards of two judges 96-93 and 95-94 to narrowly secure the victory. A third judge went 95-94 for Ngannou.

That certainly creates a ready-made storyline for a return bout between the two, but when a rematch might materialize is anybody's guess. Fury's focus for now is on an undisputed heavyweight title encounter with Oleksandr Usyk.

Francis Ngannou may have lost via a controversial decision but that doesn't mean his is making any excuses.

Ngannou fell to Tyson Fury via a split decision (93-96, 94-95, 95-94) in his first official boxing match, and many believed that Ngannou had an unfair ruling. Still, the UFC standout did not want to make any excuses for the loss.

"I'm a fighter," Ngannou said, per Mike Coppinger of ESPN.com. "We can run it back again, and I'm sure I will get better. This was my first boxing match. It was a great experience. I'm not giving any excuse."

Ngannou elaborated by saying that the experience was positive and that he is looking forward to future fights.

"I know I came up short," Ngannou said, per Coppinger. "But I'm going to go back and work harder with a little more experience and little more feeling of the game. And I will come back even stronger."

Ngannou was able to knock Fury down in the third round but the decision went to Fury, who is soon awaiting a major matchup against Oleksandr Usyk. Ngannou will now look towards additional boxing matches, and the strong performance against Fury bodes well for his future in the ring.