Ngannou is set to return to the MMA cage after fighting Joshua – but also wants to fight Tyson Fury for a second time

Francis Ngannou is set to return to the cage after he fights Anthony Joshua – and finally make his PFL debut.

Ngannou signed for the MMA promotion after leaving the UFC early last year, but has put his debut on hold while he pursued the biggest fights in boxing. He dropped and almost stopped Tyson Fury last October and will tonight take on Joshua back in Saudi Arabia.

READ MORE ;Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou results: Live updates, ring walk time, where to stream

Should he win, Ngannou will target the winner of Fury’s upcoming undisputed clash with Oleksandr Usyk on May 18. But Ngannou has also committed to returning to MMA and taking on Renan Ferreira in the PFL.

The Brazilian knocked out Ryan Bader inside 21 seconds last month to become heavyweight champion with Ngannou at cageside for the fight in Riyadh. Ferreira called out the Cameroonian in his post-fight interview. “I am the real champion out here, I am the record breaker and record setter,” he said. “Francis, where are you? Let’s do this. I’ve always been ready to fight against the very best in the world, it can be against Francis in the boxing ring or in the cage, wherever he wants to do it.

“I already am one of the greatest heavyweights of all-time, I’ve proved this inside of the SmartCage and I’m going to continue proving it.” Ngannou was seen leaving the Kingdom Arena whilst Ferreira was giving his post-fight interview, spoiling plans for a face-off between the future opponents.

Ngannou is confident he can pull off an upset against Joshua – but is in no doubt about what would happen in an MMA fight between the rivals. He said: “Sometimes it just makes me laugh a little bit, because we are going to fight in boxing rules, but what would happen if it was a ‘free’ fight under MMA rules? I would smoke this guy. I am the only one to go in their backyard, none of them can come in my backyard. I would take two of them at once.

UPDATE ;LIVE: Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou – Heavyweight Boxing

“I have learnt a little bit from the last fight, the last camp, and leading up to this one, so I get a little bit of experience, but the mindset is still the same. This is just my second boxing match, even though I am taking on the two best guys in the world in boxing. I am the underdog, I am going out there to prove that you can be an underdog and stand your ground.”

Anthony Joshua steamrolled Francis Ngannou in two rounds, annihilating the Cameroonian hero with a booming right hand that left the MMA icon flat on his back.

Ngannou was down three times in all, each time from right hands, before he was ultimately blasted out by that shot and separated from his senses.

It was all over after 2:38 of the second round.

Asked if that was what he wanted next, Joshua responded: “Yes it is.”

READ MORE ;Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou results: Live updates, ring walk time, where to stream

The fighters set up as you might have expected to begin with. Joshua, 28-2 (25 KOs), looked conventional and fluid; Ngannou, with his wide-armed defense, stepped into the fray. Joshua was caught circling to his left early on and he caught a heavy right hand on his glove with his left hand high.

Ngannou, an MMA great but now 0-2 as a professional boxer, changed southpaw early on, as he had done against Fury last October, but Joshua saw it as an open invitation and threw a long right hand through the middle – down the pipe – and Ngannou was on his back and listening to the referee Ricky Gonzalez’s count for the first time.

Ngannou looked shocked. Joshua was measured and composed. He threw to the body and then landed another right over the top as he pressed his advantage and with Joshua dictating terms in the second Ngannou was over once more from another right hand with a minute to go.

Then, as the two met back in the center of the ring, Joshua launched forward with a huge overhand right and a dazed Ngannou seemed to be out on impact.

Ngannou’s right leg buckled beneath him, laced with equal measures of drama and brutality, and Ngannou was stretched out flat on his back as the referee waved it off.

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Joshua has knocked out a few in dramatic fashion, and that was a crushing shot to add to the highlight reel.

Ngannou was given oxygen and remained on the canvas for some time as the ring started to fill with people, and then the Cameroonian was tended to while he sat on his stool and recovered.

Ngannou, 37, who decked Tyson Fury on his way to a narrow decision loss last October in his professional boxing debut, listened, but you cannot be sure he was able to retain anything that was being said to him such was the devastation he had just encountered.

“He can come again,” Joshua said. “I told him he shouldn’t leave boxing. He can do well. He’s fought two of the best and he can go a long way if he stays dedicated. It’s up to him.”

UPDATE ;Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou live updates: Fight card results, ring walk times, predictions and more

Joshua has won four in a row since back-to-back defeats by Usyk, having overcome Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin and now Ngannou.

The 34-year-old heavyweight from Watford paid tribute to his coach Ben Davison, and the support team he has around him.