Francis Ngannou next fight: Tyson Fury rematch, Deontay Wilder, Jon

This past Saturday, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou almost did the unthinkable when he came within inches of upsetting WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury inside the boxing ring. Ngannou lost by split decision but scored a knockdown and nearly came away on the good end of one of — if not the — biggest upsets in sports history.

Ngannou’s success came after nearly all experts believed he had no chance to defeat the best boxing heavyweight of the generation. The reality is, Ngannou emerged as a winner even in defeat and his name has never had more value.

The big question is: What’s next for Ngannou? He said he’s ready to continue his boxing career but also signed with PFL to compete in MMA after a bitter split with the UFC while he held their heavyweight title.

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Let’s take a look at some of the top options for Ngannou’s next bout — whether they’re realistic or not.

Tyson Fury

Why this opponent? In the immediate aftermath of any fight that produces a shocking result or even mild controversy, the idea of a rematch is always bandied about. There are plenty of questions to be answered in a potential rematch. Will Ngannou be better with more time and training? Was the first fight simply a matter of Fury not taking Ngannou seriously? And so on.

Ngannou put Fury on the canvas and won one of three official scorecards while narrowly losing a split decision. Even if Fury was unprepared for what Ngannou would bring to the ring and didn’t take his training seriously, the result was among the most stunning in boxing history. Ngannou no doubt wants another crack and a man with an ego the size of Fury’s certainly would like to show he’s better than nearly ending up…