Francis Ngannou is, at the very least, an extraordinary athlete. The former UFC champion went from working in the sand mines of Cameroon as a teenager to making an extraordinary journey to Europe where he started training martial arts. Although he had dreamt of being a boxer since he was a child, he found MMA and went on to become the heavyweight champion of the largest, most popular MMA promotion.

As if that wasn’t enough, he then went on to nearly knock out the lineal and WBC boxing heavyweight champion of the world on his boxing debut! And as Ngannou gears up to face Anthony Joshua in a virtual title eliminator for the undisputed heavyweight boxing crown on March 10, his PFL roster mate and light heavyweight champion Impa Kasanganay gave his thoughts on ‘The Preadator’s future in an exclusive ES FanCast with Essentially Sports.

Kasanganay wants to fight Francis Ngannou

On being asked if he saw Ngannou coming back to MMA or pursuing a career in boxing, Kasanganay felt he would probably do both and has the potential to change the business given his crossover appeal and success so far.

However, he added that he would not be surprised if Ngannou continued boxing for good, which, given the money that can be made in boxing as compared to MMA would certainly be a lucrative option for the former UFC champion “I wouldn’t be surprised, too if he like, said, this is the direction he wants to go,” the PFL champion said.

Kasanganay said on our exclusive ES FanCast, “I think it’ll be a simultaneous thing. I think he’s going on to probably look for MMA fights I mean, why not. Maybe it’ll be some major contract maybe be something that he can do to change the direction of MMA”. Kasanganay will face distinguished Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen at the first PFL vs. Bellator card on February 24.

Kasanganay even put his name in the hat as Ngannou’s next MMA opponent, saying that he would be “honored” to share the octagon with him. “I’ll be honored, you know. That’s what I look forward to, like, I want that battle,” he said. The 30-year-old felt that Ngannou had successfully opened many doors with his foray into boxing.

Kasanganay thinks Ngannou has an edge over opponents due to his struggle

Kasanganay felt that Ngannou had used his star power and brand value to put himself in progressively better positions by seizing opportunities and exceeding expectations. The PFL light heavyweight champion felt that Ngannou’s life experiences had hardened him and given him an indomitable will, courage and inner strength that people underestimated. This, he believed, is why he continues to excel and surprise so many people.

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“I think with the Joshua fight, I think he’s putting himself in a great position to just do better and better work so, like… But I think he’s done so much great work, so many battles, so many opportunities in and outside the cage and I believe that he has an opportunity to defend his victory versus Joshua. When you see somebody who’s gone through so much people kind of missed that X Factor and it’s hard to calculate” Kasanganay added. What are your predictions for Joshua-Ngannou?

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