Francis Ngannou has made it clear once again that he's setting his sights on a crossover bout with Tyson Fury, with his latest comments coming ahead of his UFC title defence.
The 35-year-old faces Ciryl Gane in California this weekend, which is his last contracted fight to UFC as it stands - though victory will result in an automatic extension.
Should Ngannou be victorious, Jon Jones is widely regarded to be his likely next opponent in the octagon - but the Cameroonian has admitted that's not the choice he would make.
Instead, he remains confident that he will get the chance to face-off against Fury and has outlined his 'dream' of taking to the ring.
"If you give me the two options, I would choose fighting Tyson Fury. After fighting Stipe [Miocic], the John Jones fight was on the table, but it seems like nobody really cares about it, so I don't know," he told a press conference.
"And also, we don't even know what is the position of John Jones right now. I'm not planning my life based on that. I will plan my life based on the facts."
Asked if he was excited by a potential clash with Fury, Ngannou added: "Yes, very much because as many of you might know, my dream since I was a kid was to become a boxer. Along the way, I discovered MMA, which has been great to me.
"But still that hasn't taken away that dream of boxing. I always knew that I wanted to get a part of boxing in my career before the end of my career.
"I think sometimes professional fighters can underestimate MMA fighters, but I also think everyone has an opinion.
"Somebody will say I will easily beat him, somebody will say he will easily beat me, somebody will see an equal fight - that's the fight business. It's opinion."
