Francis Ngannou has been offered a fight in the PFL by ex-UFC heavyweight Fabricio Werdum.
The ex-UFC heavyweight champion elected to vacate his crown and exit the promotion after failing to agree a new deal. Since his departure, Ngannou has been in talks over a number of fighting opportunities including a boxing fight against Deontay Wilder and potential appearances in rival MMA promotions including Bellator and PFL.
News broke this week that talks had broken down between Ngannou and MMA label ONE, with boss Chatri Sityodtong claiming the star rejected a guaranteed $20million contract. But his future could now lie in the PFL, with ex-undisputed UFC champion Werdum has become the latest to demand a meeting in the cage.
He tweeted: "Hi Francis Ngannou. I shocked the world when I beat Fedor Emeliaenko and also when I beat Cain Velasquez. And I became undisputed UFC heavyweight champion, you have a lot of hole in your game, let’s go! Only one way to find out PFL smart cage."
The Brazilian star is now 45-years-old and is considered way past his prime having spent several years in the UFC where he once reigned as king of the heavyweight division. Werdum's last outing came in a one-off clash under the PFL banner where he suffered defeat on his debut, but the result was later overturned to a no-decision.
A fight would likely be a complete mismatch given Ngannou's recent run of form and significant punching power, and it remains unclear if he would be willing to step back into MMA next. It was expected that he would first grace the squared circle, but Ngannou has found it much harder to gain concrete interest in a fight against a leading name.
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However on a potential future under the PFL, new signing Jake Paul revealed that talks had already got underway for the pair to potentially work together. This could involve Ngannou fighting in the pay-per-view division that has been launched for the YouTube star to make his own MMA debut.
And the 'Problem Child' believes the former champion shares the vision that would be required to take advantage of a significant role in the PFL. “We have talked," Paul told TMZ Sports. "The Most Valuable Promotions team, we talked to Francis. We think we can do a great job for him. We share the same vision on a lot of things.
"Hopefully Francis sees that as well, but regardless, we’re always going to be there to support him. On the MMA side of things, we’re working on something too. Francis is a great guy, and I think there’s a lot of opportunities for us together.”
