Eddie Hall explains Francis Ngannou U-Turn from X-rated rejection to ‘final fight’ plea

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Eddie Hall explains Francis Ngannou U-Turn from X-rated rejection to ‘final fight’ plea

Originally posted on Bloody Elbow | By Donagh Corby | Last updated Apr 7, 2026 11:58 PM ET

Eddie Hall has gone from very crudely turning down a fight with Francis Ngannou to courting the possibility openly.

The 2017 World’s Strongest Man has had just one boxing match and one MMA fight since starting to train in 2022, but is already one of the biggest draws in combat sports. He lost to Hafthor Bjornsson in the ring before a vicious knockout win over Mariusz Pudzianowski that was a massive hit for KSW.

Hall returns on June 13 against Tommy Fury for Misfits Boxing. But his ultimate plan is to compete in the cage more frequently, with his crescendo coming against Ngannou.

Eddie Hall explains why Francis Ngannou is his dream final opponent

After his win against Mariusz Pudzianowski at KSW 105, Eddie Hall claimed that he ‘would rather get f—ed in the a– by the Devil than fight Francis Ngannou‘. But his tune has changed pretty drastically, and he has since named the legendary heavyweight champion as a perfect final opponent for his MMA journey.

“I don’t think a lot has happened, really,” Hall told Bloody Elbow. “I guess I want to have a few more fights and it’s the exciting fights that do it for me. I want to fight the Mariusz Pudzianowskis of the world, the controversial people like Dillon Danis.

“I want to offer people out and be double the size because I don’t mind being the Goliath in a David vs Goliath, it excites me and there’s always going to be a place for world title fights in boxing and in MMA or whatever.

“But they need excitement and Jake Paul has thrown a lot of excitement into the sport and helped the viewership of the sport in general massively so these YouTube fights, I’m all for them. This is why I’ve taken the Tommy fight because it leads on to bigger and better fights.

“I guess the last kind of s— or bust, the very last fight for me would be to fight someone like Francis Ngannou. Win, draw, lose, that would be my last one, let’s see if I can beat a world champion there.”

This article first appeared on Bloody Elbow and was syndicated with permission.

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