Scott Coker says that Bellator MMA has an interest in making a deal with free agent Francis Ngannou.
Recently the UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou decided to step down as champ and left the UFC to pursue opportunities elsewhere. He and the UFC had not been seeing eye to eye for some time and since they were unable to come to a deal that suited both parties, he decided to leave. This makes Ngannou one of the biggest free agents on the market today. Of course, many MMA and boxing organizations are interested and Bellator is no different.
Scott Coker, president of Bellator MMA has expressed his interest in making Ngannou a part of the roster and now explains that there are discussions ongoing.
Scott Coker is hoping to have a face-to-face with Francis Ngannou and make a deal in both boxing and MMA
Many people feel that Bellator is the second most popular MMA organization in the world. Over the past few years, many former UFC fighters have decided to make the switch to Bellator for either more money or more freedom. It seems as if Ngannou is looking for both. He mentioned wanting to try his skills in the boxing ring as well as continue to fight in MMA, in Bellator he could have the opportunity to do both. Coker sat down with Ariel Helwani of The MMA Hour to discuss this and more.
“Of course, there’s interest anytime there’s a free agent at this level, we were talking to everybody all the time and Francis is somebody that we would have high interest in. I know there’s a dialogue going on and I look forward to sitting down in the very near future,” he said. “Francis Ngannou would be a great addition to any roster and you know, I think we would be a great fit because you have Showtime boxing, he could do boxing, and he could do MMA with us, so it’d be a one-stop shop for him.”
Bellator has a deal with Showtime boxing and their events are aired on Showtime as well. Ngannou wants to incorporate both sports into his life. He has been eyeing a fight with two top boxing champions, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. It seems that being able to bounce from one to the other is exactly what he wanted from the UFC. Coker explains that the lines of communication are open and he hopes that a sit down can happen with a deal to follow.
