UFC Heavyweight Francis Ngannou to Brock Lesnar: 'Give Me That F--king Fight'
With WrestleMania 34 just a few weeks away and Brock Lesnar's contract potentially set to run out shortly thereafter, many are wondering if a return to the UFC could be in the works.
Given Lesnar's incredible drawing power and his enduring in-cage relevance, the Beast Incarnate stands as the most intriguing opponent for every heavyweight fighter in the UFC. That fact isn't lost on Francis Ngannou and the Predator wants the fans, and Lesnar, to know he'd love to welcome the former champion back to the cage.
Speaking with MMAFighting.com's Ariel Helwani on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour, the heavyweight contender didn't try to hide his excitement over the idea of facing Lesnar.
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"It's up to what (the UFC) want to give me. There are a lot of people out there who want to fight me," he said, discussing recent callouts from other contenders. "By myself, I want Brock. Brock Lesnar."
A fearsome power puncher and absurd athlete, Ngannou captured fans' imaginations with brutal knockouts of enduring veterans like Andrei Arlovski and Alistair Overeem and rose up the UFC heavyweight rankings in almost record time, fighting for the title just four years after his professional MMA debut.
Despite losing to heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic in January, he remains an intriguing talent and big name. A Lesnar vs. Ngannou bout would be a compelling one on multiple levels as it would two of the Octagon's greatest athletes against one another in a classic "wrestler vs. grappler" matchup.
While B-side fighters often try and condescend when calling out bigger names (see: Khabib Nurmagomedov talking about Conor McGregor), Ngannou isn't trying to mask his intentions when it comes to Lesnar. He wants him to come back, and he wants to be on the stage that he provides.
"Please Brock, come back, come back my friend. We need you here," he said earlier in the interview. "We need you to put the fun in this division. I need you to give me that f--king fight I've been waiting for for a long time, I've been dreaming for."
Though this would be an incredibly interesting contest, Lesnar getting back into the Octagon is far from guaranteed at this point. Per reports, the WWE is capable of keeping Lesnar in contractual limbo for several months and Lesnar still has lingering issues with USADA stemming from a failed drug test in 2016.
That said, if the stars do align for a return to the cage, it's hard to think of a better choice to welcome him back.
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