Francis Ngannou Gives Update On UFC Return

By Fight Sports Apr 28, 2022 Last updated May 5, 2022

UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has shared an update regarding his potential return timeline after a lengthy lay-off due to a knee injury.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Ngannou revealed that his recovery is going smoothly and the fans will be soon able to watch him again fighting in December, possibly.

“Potentially in November, but more likely in December,” Ngannou said.

“Because in December, I will be in the full cap of nine months recovery. Even if my recovery seems to be faster, I still want to give myself more time not to give any chance to re-injure that same knee.”

Ngannou has been in and out of the octagon. He has fought only two times since his knockout demolition of Jairzinho Rozenstruik in mid of 2020.

After securing his first major title in the promotion against Stipe Miocic in March 2021, Ngannou returned to face his former teammate, Ciryl Gane for the unification clash at UFC 270 earlier this year. The Cameroonian heavyweight showed an immense improvement in his ground game, earning the nods on the judges’ scorecard.

Heading into the fight, Ngannou ruptured his MCL along with damaging his ACL, but despite these injuries, the ‘Predator’ showed up on the fight night and finished the business. Now, the he is undergoing rehab following the surgery on the damaged right knee.

And it’s very likely that his comeback fight could be outside the octagon with him being heavily linked to a fight against the WBC and The Ring Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury.

Ngannou has had a long rift with the UFC president Dana White, accusing him of underpaying. And following these altercations, the ‘Predator’ himself had expressed his desire for a cross-over boxing bout with reigning champion, Fury.

Ngannou is confident that he will be sharing the ring with ‘Gypsy King’ in his next outing and revealed that Fury’s team is also pushing for this clash.

“Yeah, I will say there’s a 70% chance that it’ll be against Tyson Fury,” suggested Ngannou. “On his side, I will even say 90%.”