Francis Ngannou is going into his fight against Tyson Fury with the mindset that he will overcome the odds and defeat the lineal heavyweight boxing champion.
During a face-to-face interview following their press conference, 'The Predator' opened up about his perceived odds of defeating 'The Gypsy King' in their boxing bout next Saturday. He mentioned that it's not the first time that he has been counted out and will use that as extra motivation as he believes that he could even pull off a decision win:
"I really believe that everything [decision win] is possible and let me tell you something, from where I came from, everything I have done, nobody believed in me... If I wasn't big and scary, even my family wouldn't support me... because they thought I was losing my senses...But, I proved them wrong."
The former UFC heavyweight champion then said he is confident in his abilities and can defeat Tyson Fury. Francis Ngannou mentioned that he wouldn't have done everything possible to become a free agent and pursue that fight, saying:
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"If I didn't believe that I can do this, I wouldn't be leaving the UFC and go through all this stuff that I been through to get out of my contract."
It will be interesting to see whether Francis Ngannou can pull off an upset and defeat Tyson Fury in their boxing bout and what would follow if he does.
What is Francis Ngannou's MMA record?
Francis Ngannou has a reputation as being one of the most intimidating knockout artists in MMA during his tenure with the UFC.
'The Predator' earned an MMA record of 17-3 and spent most of his career in the UFC, where he went 14-2 inside the octagon. He has knockout wins over many former champions, including Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos, Andrei Arlovski, and Stipe Miocic.
The 37-year-old departed the UFC earlier this year after declining their contract offer in favor of exploring free agency. 'The Predator' left the promotion as the heavyweight champion and was riding a 6-fight winning streak that included a successful title defense against Ciryl Gane.