"Let's bring greatness back to the continent" - Impa Kasanganay urges PFL to book Francis Ngannou clash for promotion's inaugural Africa card
PFL 2023 light heavyweight champion Impa Kasanganay urged the PFL to match him up with their marquee fighter Francis Ngannou for his debut fight.
The former UFC heavyweight's signing has ensured that the promotion will conduct events in the African continent and Kasanganay wants to headline alongside Ngannou while simultaneously returning to their origins.
He told MMA Junkie in an interview:
“PFL you don’t have to look around. You know where to find me. You know I’m gonna show up and I’m gonna say yes. Why don’t we just do the inaugural PFL Africa card with us, right? Set it off. Let’s bring greatness back to the continent. I’m not here to play around."
Shedding light on who he'd like to fight next, he added:
"I really respect Francis, I think he’s doing great work and that’s where warriors go. They say the warrior’s greatest reward is the next battle. So that’s who I want. I want him and Nemkov. I’ll fight them back-to-back weeks, same night like seriously, I’m not playing around, you think I’m playing but I’m not. I trust the trainers that I have, I trust the coaches that I have and most importantly, I trust God.”
Earlier, Impa Kasanganay had called out Francis Ngannou and Vadim Nemkov after his win over Josh Silveira at the PFL light heavyweight tournament finals.
Impa Kasanganay on moving up to heavyweight to face Francis Ngannou
Impa Kasanganay has fought in various weight classes all the way from welterweight up to light heavyweight. In his time at the UFC, he fought at middleweight.
However, he made his light heavyweight debut in the PFL and has found great success in the weight class, with five straight wins. He claimed he will move up to heavyweight for a potential fight against Ngannou, saying:
“Yeah, I don’t just say things to say things. I mean it. I want Francis Ngannou. I want him cause he’s great, right? And I’m not here to like test myself, I’m not here to try it out. Like, I’m here to claim a victory too. It’s not that like if you really wanna the best to ever do it, you gotta go show it. And yeah, he’s a powerhouse is all that, but I don’t care. Like I really really want Francis because you know why people run from him. He’s trying to find fights. I’’ll go up to heavyweight, biggest I’ve ever weighed is 245!"
Check out Impa Kasanganay's full comments below: