ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong provides update regarding talks with Francis Ngannou
Chatri Sityodtong has weighed in on Francis Ngannou potentially signing with ONE Championship. 'The Predator's' most recent combat sports contest was an MMA bout in the UFC in January 2022. The fight witnessed Ngannou defeat Ciryl Gane via unanimous decision to unify the UFC heavyweight titles.
This bout marked the last fight of Ngannou's UFC contract. Besides, the duration of his contract subsequently ran out, and he parted ways with the UFC in January of this year.
Currently a free agent, Ngannou is reportedly looking to make his boxing debut. The 36-year-old has lately been lobbying for a boxing match against top-tier heavyweight pugilists such as Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder.
Additionally, 'The Predator' has also expressed interest in competing for MMA organizations other than the UFC. As of late, there's been speculation that Ngannou could end up joining the Singapore-based ONE Championship MMA promotion this year.
In a recent interview with MMA fighter-turned-analyst Chael Sonnen, ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong was asked about the possibility of Francis Ngannou signing with the organization. Sityodtong responded by stating:
"I like Francis. He's a good guy. But I genuinely don't know where he's gonna end up. I can confirm that we are in discussions. But all I meant to say was from my understanding -- and I know that we're also at the very tail-end of our process with him. He has a bunch of offers. Let's see what happens. We haven't submitted our final offer yet. So, that's where we're at. We've been in discussions for the last few months. And we've got a couple of offers, I believe. And our final one, we're putting together."
Watch Sityodtong discuss the topic at 10:19 in the video below:
Could Francis Ngannou receive an immediate title shot if he joins ONE Championship?
During their conversation, Chael Sonnen also asked Chatri Sityodtong whether Francis Ngannou could receive an immediate shot at the ONE Championship heavyweight title if he signs with the organization. Sityodtong addressed the same at the 11:05-minute mark of the aforementioned video and opined that Ngannou could indeed be booked in a title matchup right away.
Chatri Sityodtong alluded to the fact that current ONE Championship heavyweight titleholder Arjan Bhullar is scheduled to face interim heavyweight titleholder (and reigning light heavyweight champion) Anatoly/Anatoliy Malykhin. Their heavyweight title unification matchup is set to transpire in July.
He insinuated that the winner of the matchup could possibly welcome Francis Ngannou to the ONE FC fold. Besides, he also highlighted that up-and-coming heavyweights, such as BJJ great 'Buchecha,' could also fight Ngannou in ONE Championship. Sityodtong said:
"Yeah, possibly. First, we have a unification bout between our interim world titleholder and our current titleholder. Anatoly/Anatoliy [Malykhin] is 12 and 0, I believe; an 80 percent finish rate. And Arjan [Bhullar] is 11 and 1."