Francis Ngannou Performs Wild 180 on Possible Jake Paul Fight

Francis Ngannou seemingly thinks completely differently about boxing Jake Paul now as he did before.

There was a recent time in which the former UFC heavyweight champion, Ngannou, appeared to bristle at the mere notion of being speculatively linked with a Paul fight — official, crossover, or otherwise.

Paul, via Most Valuable Promotions, approached Ngannou about a fight at the time they were canceling the Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis exhibition on Netflix after the lightweight boxer’s mounting legal issues. Ngannou, speaking to TMZ Sports at the time, said he was “insulted” at the offer, asking rhetorically how a serious outfit can go from picking the 5-foot-5 Tank as an opponent, to Ngannou, who is a foot taller. MVP and Paul went with Anthony Joshua in the end, who fractured the internet sensation’s jaw in two places.

“It makes no sense,” he said, to TMZ, about their movements.

“Don’t disrespect me like that. I’m not interested.”

Ngannou returns to an MMA cage for only the second time since leaving the UFC when, on May 16, he fights Philipe Lins in Los Angeles on an MVP card that features trailblazers Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano atop the Netflix card.

Stranger things have happened than to not think Ngannou could be thinking differently about a Paul fight now that he’s competing in a Paul event.

At first, he conceded he regarded Paul as “just some YouTube guy” but that he’s no longer just a creator, but a legitimate force — just not, perhaps, a force to be reckoned with regardless of whether the arena is a cage or a ring.

“I just feel like I need to give him some slaps,” Ngannou told TMZ. “That’s just how I feel, you know, like slapping him off.”

It is unclear when Paul will return to the ring, but he has been linked with fights against Tommy Fury, KSI, and Ryan Garcia.

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