Francis Ngannou has opened the door to a possible crossover fight against rising heavyweight boxing star Daniel Dubois, claiming a meeting between them would be a ‘tough fight’.
It comes as the 38-year-old is set to make his long-awaited MMA return on October 19 after a huge few paydays in boxing.
He will step into the SmartCage to take on Brazilian star Renan Ferreira, in what will be the ‘Battle of the Giants‘.
It will be Ngannou’s debut in the Professional Fight League (PFL), with the 38-year-old expected to earn an eye-watering $14.8 million. Forbes.
While the former UFC heavyweight champion told Mail Sport he is focused on the fight against Ferreira, the Cameroonian also gave his thoughts on Dubois’ sensational fifth-round knockout win over Anthony Joshua.
“Dubois is a very difficult opponent,” Ngannou said.
“I think they’ve been talking about him for years as an emerging talent in the heavyweight division. His last battle [against Joshua]he proved it.
“So yeah, it would be a tough fight, a very tough fight,” he added, speaking of a possible matchup between himself and Dubois.
Francis Ngannou (pictured) has opened the door for a possible crossover fight against Daniel Dubois
Dubois (pictured) scored a sensational knockout victory against Anthony Joshua in September
Ngannou (left) takes on Renan Ferreira (right) in the SmartCage in his PFL debut
“But again, no fight is off limits because no one believed he would take Joshua out.”
While many wondered if it was time for 34-year-old Joshua to hang up the gloves, the British fighter remained defiant despite that cloud of uncertainty and insisted he would continue boxing.
Joshua’s last victory came against Ngannou in March, with the Brit scoring a devastating second-round knockout win against the MMA star.
And Ngannou has also given his opinion on whether Joshua should retire.
“That’s his decision,” he told this masthead. ‘He’s the only one who can make that decision.
‘If he thinks it can go ahead. He continues. He feels like he no longer has that motivation or focus, and then he may have to retire.
‘But only he knows exactly what to do, because he is still young. I mean, he’s still got a few years ahead of him before he really gets there.
“But then again, it’s up to him.”
Now that he had taken on Joshua and Tyson Fury in the ring, Ngannou revealed he had ‘missed the cage’.
Ngannou also gave his view on Anthony Joshua (pictured)’s future in boxing and whether he should hang up the gloves
Joshua’s (right) last win came in March against Ngannou (left), where he defeated the MMA star with a second-round knockout win
“Well, I’m really excited to come back. I miss the cage, it’s been more than two years, almost three years. I miss the cage.
‘I’m going to get into the cage and not just any cage, it’s the SmartCage. It’ll be fun.’
He also sent a word of warning to his upcoming opponent, Ferreira, with their fight coming up shown in Australia exclusively on Stan Sport.
“What I will say is that he [Ferreira] knows he has a different beast in front of him – nothing he has ever experienced,” Ngannou said.
“I hope he knows that, otherwise he’ll find out in an unpleasant way.”
Earlier this year, Ngannou was also drafted by Fedor Emelianenko, who recently came out of retirement to face Tim Johnson and Ryan Bader.
“A lot of people have been calling for me lately,” Ngannou said when asked if he would consider a fight against Emelianenko.
Ngannou (left) insisted Ferreira (right) will face a ‘different beast’ next week
“I mean, Fedor Emelianenko is a fighter that I really respect. I think he has his face on the ‘MMA Mt Rushmore’. But right now my focus is on Renan Ferreira. When you talk about MMA, I focus on him.
“And after that fight, we can talk about the potential of what may or may not happen.”
