"We've seen AJ be vulnerable before" - Ex-UFC star Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson forecasts outcome of Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou (Exclusive)

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson has offered his prediction for Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou.

'AJ' is set to face 'The Predator' on March 8. in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The British boxing star will be just the second opponent Ngannou has faced since his dramatic exit from the UFC last January.

Joshua heads into the bout on fine form after picking up three back-to-back victories in 2023. He had been due to face Deontay Wilder, but his recent loss to Joseph Parker meant Joshua has opted to take the risk and face the still relatively untested Cameroonian.

For Ngannou, the 37-year-old put the boxing world on notice last year following his performance against Tyson Fury. Despite coming up short via split decision on the night, the former UFC heavyweight champ stunned the world by going toe-to-toe with 'The Gypsy King' and even dropped him in the third round.

Ahead of their bout this week, former UFC star Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson offered his take on the fight in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA.

Rampage is backing Ngannou to shock the world and finish Joshua, believing the Brit can be knocked out as fans have seen him "vulnerable" before. He explained:

"I'm MMA all day. I won't say one bad thing against an MMA fighter... I'm a fan of Anthony Joshua. But I'm a big fan of Francis Ngannou. I'm gonna be optimistic and say Francis Ngannou will shock the world and knock out AJ, because AJ can be knocked out. I'm sure [Ngannou] can be knocked out as well, we've just never seen it. We've seen AJ be vulnerable before."

Joshua has been knocked out once in his professional career in a fight against Andy Ruiz Jr. back in 2019. He has lost two decisions to Oleksandr Usyk as well - one split and the other unanimous.

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Francis Ngannou outlines the timeline for his retirement from combat sports

Francis Ngannou recently discussed when he plans to hang up both his boxing and MMA gloves and retire from competition.

The 37-year-old is set to make just his second walk to a boxing ring this week when he faces Anthony Joshua in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 'The Predator' is then expected to return to MMA following the fight, and will face Renan Ferreira in the PFL later this year.

During a recent interview with Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo on their Pound 4 Pound podcast, Ngannou discussed when he believes it will be time to call it a day on fighting. He said:

"When I retire from fighting, it's just the end of my combat sports career. I think I might retire around 40 [years old]. I'm thinking about 40 so in three, four years [from] now. That's where my mind is at. Then at 40, I still have maybe half of my life that I can do a lot of things."

Check out Francis Ngannou's comments here (45:50):