Francis Ngannou is in high demand.
After parting ties with the UFC earlier this year, Ngannou is now a free agent. He was stripped of the UFC heavyweight title. The new winner of the belt will now be decided at UFC 285 between Ciryl Gane and Jon Jones.
Several MMA and boxing organizations are interested in Ngannou. He has had discussions about joining the PFL, Bellator, and other prestigious promotions.
Bellator intends to actively pursue Ngannou and make him an enticing offer. At a press conference to promote Bellator 291 event, Coker revealed his pitch to sign the former UFC Heavyweight champion.
“From my perspective, when you talk about signing him to Bellator, we’re also talking about having a conversation about getting him into Showtime pay-per-view boxing too.”
Coker thinks they’re in a unique position to provide Ngannou with the opportunity to continue competing in mixed martial arts while trying out boxing as well.
Coker continued:
“I think we have great company to offer both sides of the combat sports business that he’d like to, which is MMA and also box. I think we’re a great fit. There’s ongoing discussions, so we’ll see what happens.”
The majority of the top boxing events worldwide are held at Showtime, the main broadcasting partner of Bellator. The network has shown mega-boxing events featuring some of the greatest stars, including Gervonta Davis, Jake Paul, and Artur Beterbiev.
Ngannou has ambitious goals for his boxing career, which might include boxing bouts against stars like Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder. Wilder has suggested a two challenge series against Ngannou – one in MMA and the other in a boxing ring.
According to Ali Abdelaziz, Ngannou wants around $30 million to compete in boxing. That would make him one of the highest-paid boxers, close to Wilder and Canelo Alvarez. Ngannou is in talks with Bellator about signing with them, and they may be one of the few promotions who can provide Ngannou with what he wants.