Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou might box again before returning to MMA.
“What’s next for me? Maybe a third boxing match,” Ngannou said in a video on his YouTube channel published Saturday.
Ngannou suffered the first knockout loss of his combat sports career last week in his sophomore boxing appearance against former two-time champion Anthony Joshua.
Ngannou, who is 0-2 in boxing after losing a split decision to WBC heavyweight titleholder Tyson Fury last October, did not commit to his next move after the defeat to Joshua.
The Cameroonian has a contract with the PFL, said in February he planned to compete in MMA again, and is expected to make his promotional debut against Renan Ferreira. However, Ngannou is also keen on proving himself in the ring.
“I feel like boxing owes me something now,” Ngannou said. “I have to regain what boxing took from me. I think my ego will not let me step back and let this go like this, without doing everything to … prove the world that I am the man of the job, I can do it.”
The 37-year-old said he will use the Joshua loss to improve his craft.
“I slipped, but I didn’t fall,” Ngannou said. “I stumbled, I didn’t fall. I think if I go back, train, learn from it, use it as an advantage, as experience for my personal growth, for my professional growth, I think it will not be a loss. I will be able to reverse it and make it a victory – a life victory, not only a sport victory.”
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