20 January 2023 , 16:47
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Dillian Whyte is hoping to beat domestic rival Tyson Fury in the race to fight Francis Ngannou following his UFC exit.
Ngannou, 36, is able to compete in the ring after vacating his UFC heavyweight title and parting ways with the promotion. 'The Predator' was caught up in a lengthy contract battle for two years and became a free agent last month as his old deal expired, with Ngannou refusing to re-sign with the UFC as they wouldn't agree to several of his exclusive requests.
Whyte has a history with Ngannou dating back to when the pair butted heads two years ago in an 'unseen press conference' hosted by Eddie Hearn. The 'press conference' was never made public after the UFC sent a legal threat to the boxing promoter, as Ngannou was still under contract during the time Hearn approached him.
Now that a boxing fight is possible for Ngannou, Whyte told Sky Sports of the potential clash: "I would love to fight him. Obviously he is a champion, a dangerous guy, but I think I would bash him up. It would be a very interesting fight, because we both have got a martial arts background."
Whyte has one professional MMA fight on his record which dates back to 2009, with the Brit winning by knockout in just 12 seconds. "He's (Ngannou is) up for jumping in at the deep end, fighting someone like me. It would get lots of interest and eyeballs. Fans around the world would be keen to see it, because he is a former UFC champion coming to face a top heavyweight like me," Whyte said.
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Ngannou got in the ring and faced off with Fury after the latter knocked out Whyte to defend his WBC heavyweight title last April. The former UFC champion isn't short on options - as he also called out Anthony Joshua - but Whyte is keen on welcoming Ngannou to the ring in either April or May.
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Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou faced off last April (ESPN)"It would be good becoming a champion across two sports - something I wanted to do as well - so I can understand him having a massive drive to do something like that. These guys know there is more money to make in boxing than there is in MMA," Whyte said.
"Obviously, he's (Ngannou is) a good fighter, he's strong, but there are a lot of holes in his game. He is throwing from far away, he is a slugger. In MMA, that style runs, because you have small gloves and you just need to connect anywhere with someone to do damage. In boxing, you need skills and good timing. He can't just come out and start slugging and think you can knock people out."