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SCOTT COKER SAYS IT’S “50-50” THAT FRANCIS NGANNOU FIGHTS WITH BELLATOR

By David Tees on 3/10/2023 5:07 PM

Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou is still a free agent after leaving the UFC earlier this year.

Bellator President Scott Coker recently revealed that people from Showtime have met with Ngannou to discuss a deal.

“My guys have been talking to Francis,” Coker said after Thursday’s Bellator 292 ceremonial weigh-ins (transcript via Farah Hannoun & Matt Erickson of MMA Junkie). “I know they met. I know Stephen (Espinosa) met with him on (Showtime) Boxing. I’ve always said that I think it would be a perfect fit for him because he could do boxing, he could do MMA. But I don’t think that there’s anything close to a deal being presented back and forth. Let’s see what happens.”

Ngannou went 12-2-0 during his time in the UFC and he exited the promotion while riding a six fight winning streak.

Coker believes there is a 50-50 chance that the former UFC Heavyweight Champion competes in Bellator.

“But I’m not sure that we’re going to be in that business on the MMA side,” Coker added. “Maybe for the boxing side, it might work out. But to me, it’s like it has to be equitable for everybody, and that’s how I feel. We have a pretty robust purse amount every year and we can spread that around and we can take a lot of that purse and pay our guys and sign other fighters and keep building divisions. So to me, I would say it’s 50-50 at this point.”