Francis Ngannou has opened the door to a sensational UFC return at the touted White House fight card after revealing his current contract with PFL expires in time to compete at the hotly-anticipated event.
Former heavyweight champion Ngannou stepped away from the UFC in early 2023, jumping ship to PFL before earning a couple of gargantuan boxing paydays for bouts against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
Advertisement
The Cameroonian heavy-hitter has only fought once in PFL, sleeping Renan Ferreira in the first round last year to become the inaugural PFL Super Fights Heavyweight Champion, but Ngannou has now revealed that his contract with the promotion is nearly up.
“I’m getting very close on the PFL contract (ending),” Ngannou told The Ariel Helwani Show on Wednesday. “They have to give me a fight.”
The 39-year-old left the UFC on frosty terms, with president Dana White labelling the Cameroonian as a “bad guy” and accusing him of putting hands on company executives.
Nevertheless, he has hinted at a comeback for the planned event at the White House, which Donald Trump says will be staged on 14 June – the US president’s birthday.
Advertisement
The likes of Conor McGregor, Islam Makhachev and Alex Pereira have all made their pitches to headline the card, but Ngannou is interested in setting up a super-fight with Jon Jones, who has made his desire to fight at the White House abundantly clear.
White has so far been less keen to bring “Bones” into the plans, struggling to trust the 38-year-old after holding the heavyweight title hostage for two years before retiring without fighting interim champion Tom Aspinall.
Francis Ngannou wants to fight Jon Jones at the White House (Getty Images)
And while Ngannou admits he’s not yet confident, he believes “there’s a chance” that the fight can be made and that “anything can happen” with the White House card.
Advertisement
“I don’t have hand on it, so I’m not the decision-maker,” he added.
Ngannou and Jones were close to crossing paths in the cage when the latter moved up to heavyweight, though his anticipated debut in the weight class came two months after the Cameroonian was stripped of the UFC gold and left the company.
Ngannou also said that he wants to fight Deontay Wilder in 2026, naming the “Bronze Bomber” alongside Jones as the two bouts he wants to make next year.
“When Deontay is over, maybe we’ll see,” he said on exploring a return to the UFC.
