Cameroon MMA fighter and former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has decried his controversial defeat to WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in a ‘Battle of the Baddest’ clash held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday night.
The 37-year-old, who left the UFC in January before signing a multi-fight deal with the Professional Fighters League (PFL), was not the favourite to win but the Cameroonian almost created the biggest upset in the sport.
Ngannou who made his boxing debut on the night while speaking on his controversial loss to Fury claimed he actually won the fight.
“I won the fight; there is no question about it,” Ngannou said after the fight.
Fury escaped Ngannou’s scare with a contentious split-decision victory after their 10-round non-title bout.
“And even before getting here, I knew that if this fight gets to a split decision, I am not going to win, not because I did not do well, but because I am a new guy in the boxing house,” Ngannou added.
I can’t just come here and kick into people’s business,
“They say, it’s a structured business, and you need to do a lot to destroy it and that is why it would have been a big upset for them.
“I was not expected to just win like that, but it is what it is.
“I do my job and I know that I did everything I could have done. Maybe next time, I could just do better.”
But the Cameroonian is confident by the challenge, noting that he would like to return to the boxing ring again and wants a rematch with Fury.
“We can run it back again and I’m sure I’m going to get better,” Ngannou said.
“My training camp was only three and a half months and I came into this with an injury.
“But I don’t want to give excuses. I will look at what I can do next to improve my game to come back even better.
“Now I know I can do this. Get ready, the wolf is in the house. I’m going to bite some sheep.”
