“His punches are equivalent to 96 horsepower. That’s equal to getting hit by a Ford Escort going as fast as it can,” Dana White once said about Francis Ngannou. Now imagine the same power in the squared ring. Picture him landing a punch with 129,161 units of force on his opponent’s face and you’ll know why he was such an exciting prospect in boxing.

While the Cameroon fighter may have a 0-2 record in the sport, he has just started. His losses came against the best: Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. Also, let us not forget that he switched from MMA to boxing, and before the Fury fight, no one had really seen him box. However, Joe Rogan has a theory about Ngannou. Could he have been a boxing champion if he didn’t sign with the UFC?

On June 22, the UFC commentator streamed a ‘JRE Fight Companion’ discussion. Talking about Ngannou’s boxing career, he said, “The thing is, no one had seen Francis fight as a boxer and no one knew what to expect. But then, Anthony Joshua got to study the style and see the holes in his game, and he exploited that like a f***ing professional.”

“If Francis had gotten into boxing when he got into the UFC, he’d be the heavyweight champion of the world.” Rogan’s three guests- Bryan Callen, Brendan Schaub, and Brian Simpson- were in complete agreement.

But why did Rogan say this? Yes, Anthony Joshua had a lot of footage from Ngannou’s UFC fights to study. But we are sure that Ngannou’s team too would have studied Joshua’s 30+ professional bouts.

At the same time, let us not forget that Francis Ngannou shot to fame because of his UFC bouts. Ciryl Gane, Stipe Miocic, Junior dos Santos, Cain Velasquez: Ngannou defeated some of the best UFC heavyweights and made a name for himself. While his relationship with the promotion soured because of its contractual restrictions and not allowing Ngannou to box like Conor McGregor did, one question stands: Would Ngannou get such big boxing opportunities without his UFC fame? There is no way to know this.

However, Joe Rogan was positive that Francis Ngannou could have been a real force to reckon with if he had stuck to his boxing dreams right from the start. But what were his dreams?

Since he was 10 years old, Francis Ngannou would tell everybody in his village of Batie, Cameroon, that he always envisioned a career in boxing similar to the icon, Mike Tyson. However, his fate brought him to MMA, which Joe Rogan claimed altered the course of the Cameroonian-French star’s career.

Francis Ngannou is arguably one of the scariest combat sports athletes ever, who packs some serious steam in his punches. He tried to replicate that from MMA to boxing, and he did put on a great show against Tyson Fury. But what happened when he faced Anthony Joshua? ‘AJ’ turned Ngannou’s light out with a KO.

However, Ngannou made some serious money from the two fights, which he never would have been able to do in the UFC- a fact the Fight Companion participants unanimously agreed on.

Now, he hasn’t spoken about his next boxing match since losing to Anthony Joshua, but he has assured his fans that he’s still going to keep competing inside the squared circle. But when will ‘The Predator’ return? His longtime head coach, Eric Nicksick, has hinted at a possible timeline for it.

Will Francis Ngannou return this year?

Currently, Francis Ngannou has resumed training at Xtreme Couture but has remained tight-lipped about his boxing future. Even Eric Nicksick isn’t particularly sure when the former UFC champion will make a comeback, but he did mention that though Ngannou is currently in recovery mode, he is in great spirits.

“He’s healing. You’re seeing the smile back on his face. You’re seeing the banter. He’s back in the gym talking trash to [Sean] Strickland and everybody around the room. That’s the most important thing,” Nicksick stated on ‘The MMA Hour’.

In terms of details about Ngannou’s return, Eric Nicksick’s situation is similar to most people. He, too, has no idea when Francis Ngannou will compete again, but there’s no pressure on ‘The Predator’. Nevertheless, his head coach believes that a return could be possible before 2024 comes to an end. “I hope so [in 2024]. I hope so because I think keeping him busy has been the best thing for him. It’s helped him a lot,” Nicksick added.

Is Francis Ngannou returning soon? He hasn’t been very active on social media and that makes it hard to estimate how long it could take for him to get back into action. But is he too late to make his mark in boxing, as Joe Rogan claimed? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.