Deontay Wilder vs. Francis Ngannou ? It could happen. Ngannou made a successful return to MMA competition this past October with a thudding first-round knockout of Renan Ferreira at PFL Battle of the Giants .
It was Ngannou’s first MMA fight since January 2022 as he parted ways with the UFC in 2023, signed with PFL, and then participated in a pair of high-profile boxing bouts against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua . After defeating Ferreira, Ngannou dedicated the win to his son Kobe, who died tragically this past April. He declined to comment on what his next move would be, though boxing remains on the table and Wilder is interested in negotiating a potential matchup of heavyweight stars.
“Even since I’ve been off, there’s been a lot of offers coming in,” Wilder told TMZ Sports . “A lot of things in different countries and stuff like that. Even with Francis, hope everything is going good for you, I’m sorry for your loss.
I can only imagine what it’s like to lose a child. I never hope to even feel that feeling of it. I hope life is going beautiful for you, bro.
” “That’s a conversation I’m still looking to get in there in the mix and talk about,” Wilder added when asked about fighting Ngannou. Wilder, a former WBC titleholder, is mired in the worst slump of his career with just one win in his past five outings. This past April, he lost to Zhilei Zhang via fifth-round TKO.
The 39-year-old is still highly regarded for his finishing power, with all but one.
