Dan Hardy is backing Francis Ngannou to return to the Professional Fighters League cage, confident the former UFC heavyweight champion will eventually resume his MMA run with the promotion despite ongoing uncertainty around his future.
Dan Hardy Confident Francis Ngannou Will Eventually Compete in PFL Cage
Hardy’s comments, given in an interview with MMA Junkie, centre on the idea that Ngannou still “wants to fight” and that getting back into a structured training environment could steady him after what Hardy describes as a “real rough time” in his personal life. He frames the gym and regular preparation as a stabilising force, suggesting that a renewed MMA camp with PFL would offer the kind of routine Ngannou needs at this stage of his career.
Ngannou signed a multi-fight, pay-per-view “Super Fights” deal with PFL in 2023, a contract that made him exclusive to the promotion in MMA while leaving him free to box, as well as giving him equity and an executive role with PFL Africa and a seat on the company’s global advisory board. The agreement guaranteed his MMA opponents a base purse reported at around $2 million per fight, a key point in Ngannou’s push for improved fighter pay and leverage over sponsorships that he did not enjoy during his UFC title run. That structure, combined with his star power as a former UFC champion, keeps the PFL option financially and competitively attractive if he chooses to return.
At the same time, Hardy acknowledges that Ngannou’s relationships with both the UFC and, to an extent, PFL have been strained, which has added to the uncertainty around when and where he will compete next. Ngannou has spent much of the last two years focused on high-profile boxing bouts, facing Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua in crossover events that delivered huge paydays and extended his profile beyond MMA.
Hardy says he would “love to watch him go over into boxing” for more contests but keeps coming back to the idea that “another fight in MMA would be great,” signalling that he views the PFL cage as unfinished business rather than an abandoned chapter.
Looking ahead, Hardy singles out newly crowned PFL heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov as the matchup to make if Ngannou does come back. Nemkov, a Fedor Emelianenko protégé who moved up from light heavyweight and won the PFL heavyweight title by submitting Renan Ferreira in December, represents in Hardy’s view an “undersized heavyweight” with a dangerous, technical style that would test Ngannou in new ways. Hardy calls Ngannou “such a special individual” and says he would be “disappointed” if fans never see him compete again, adding that pairing him with Nemkov would be “the fight to make” for PFL’s pay-per-view platform.
Hardy’s overall stance is clear: despite contract questions, promotional tensions and lucrative boxing options, he expects Ngannou to complete his obligations with PFL and believes a return to the SmartCage would both stabilise the fighter’s life and deliver a major event for the heavyweight landscape.
