Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is one of the top free agents in combat sports. However, that could be coming to an end soon.
Francis Ngannou teases May 16 announcement
The free agency of former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou could be coming to an end very soon.
Ngannou took to social media this weekend to tease an announcement.
With a post on twitter, Ngannou simply wrote “05.16.23” which would be this coming Tuesday.
The video includes Ngannou sitting down and several posts from social media and other websites highlighted:
Ngannou has been a free agent for four months
It has been several months since Ngannou and the UFC parted ways. He left as the reigning heavyweight champion, vacating the title in the process.
The 36-year-old last fought in January 2022 when he bested Ciryl Gane to unify the belts. He won the title in 2021 with a second round knockout of Stipe Miocic.
Overall, Ngannou is 17-3 and has won six consecutive fights, including over former UFC champions Gane, Miocic, Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez. He also owns win over Alistair Overeem and Andrei Arlovski.
What will Ngannou do next?
Many rumors and reports have circulated involving Ngannou from everything involving ONE Championship to the Professional Fighters League to boxing.
But many of those key players involved have also stated that it will not work out with Ngannou.
Could those have been a smoke-screen? Is Bellator a player for his services? How about the Asian-based ONE promotion? Does PFL bring him in as the next big-money player?
Of those, the PFL seems to be at the top of the list. Dan Hardy and Chael Sonnen, who both have strong ties and connections with the tournament-based league, believe that is where he is headed.
It would allow him to be part of the PFL super series that is expected to air on pay-per-view, while also chasing down $1 million in the season-long tournaments that run on ESPN Networks.
Or will Ngannou transition to becoming a boxer, leaving mixed martial arts for the time being?
We should find out very, very soon.