Francis Ngannou hails football legend Samuel Eto’o for shaping the next generation - "The future of football is in Cameroon" 

Francis Ngannou has praised football icon Samuel Eto’o for helping shape the next generation of Cameroonian footballers. Eto’o is widely regarded as one of the greatest strikers in football history and is hailed as one of the best African footballers ever.

Having retired from the sport, Eto’o has lately been focused on working towards the betterment of football in his native Cameroon.

The 41-year-old currently serves as the president of the Cameroonian Football Federation. A few hours back, Samuel Eto’o tweeted a photograph of himself with a couple of girls who happened to be football fans. Eto’o suggested that the girls could potentially represent Cameroon as footballers in the future. He posted the following statement alongside the photo:

“Shaping the next generation of Lionesses starts with encouraging our girls to follow their dreams. Always a pleasure to meet with some of our younger football fans”

Check out the tweet below:

Following this, Cameroonian MMA stalwart Francis Ngannou weighed in with his response to Eto’o’s tweet. ‘The Predator’ had words of high praise for Eto’o, thanking the football great for his contributions towards the improvement of Cameroonian football. Ngannou tweeted:

“The future of football is in Cameroon. Thanks to you @SamuelEtoo”

Check out the tweet below:

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Joe Rogan on a potential mixed-rules fight between Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury

UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou last fought in January of this year, completing the final fight of his UFC contract. 'The Predator' has consistently maintained that he’d like to re-sign with the UFC, albeit only if he’s given a pay raise and allowed to compete in the sport of boxing.

Also in April, Ngannou appeared alongside Tyson Fury after the latter’s boxing match. The duo then verbally agreed to face one another in a hybrid-rules fight. The fight is essentially expected to be a boxing match contested with 4-ounce MMA gloves.

The consensus is that the fight’s unlikely to materialize until 2023, as Ngannou is presently recovering from knee injury issues. Furthermore, the duration of the 35-year-old's UFC contract will reportedly expire this December, likely making him a free agent in 2023.

UFC commentator Joe Rogan recently weighed in on Ngannou possibly facing boxing great Fury in a mixed-rules fight. Rogan emphasized that Fury’s bare-knuckle boxing background and the tremendous amount of money the fight would generate are among the reasons why he wants to see the fight. On his JRE ( The Joe Rogan Experience) podcast:

“Francis Ngannou vs. 'The Gypsy King' for the undisputed baddest man on the planet. Oh my God it'd be so much money. That's what I want for Francis. And if it's little gloves, man ... you can't f*** around with little gloves."

Check out the full clip below: