Francis Ngannou will be back in action soon, at least if Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh has his way. 

Ngannou returned to mixed martial arts in October, scoring a first-round TKO win over Renan Ferreira in what was his debut appearance for the Professional Fighters League (PFL). That bout followed a two-fight trip to the heavyweight boxing arena during which he was narrowly defeated by split decision by then WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, before a two-round knockout loss at the hands of Anthony Joshua earlier this year.

Speaking recently Alalshikh, who has bankrolled some of the biggest boxing matches seen in generations as part of his attempts to make Riyadh the new ‘fight capital’ of the world, said that he has plans for Ngannou in both boxing and mixed martial arts — and wants to see if former world champion Deontay Wilder could be a viable opponent for ‘The Predator.’

“I need to sit with Wilder [for] two minutes to see his condition,” Alalshikh told the broadcaster DAZN, as noted by Bloody Elbow.

“I can catch it from two minutes [and see] if he’s ready or not. I don’t want to waste time and money anymore. I need to check first if he’s still got it. Francis will come to me in December to watch the [Usyk vs Fury] rematch. We have a lot of business together.”

Wilder, 39, at one p0int in 2019 had built an undefeated record throughout his first 43 professional fights. However, his performances have dipped in recent years in defeats to the likes of Fury, Jospeh Parker and Zhilei Zhang.

The American has been a long-rumoured opponent of Ngannou’s, given their billing as the hardest punchers in the respective sports. Also, Wilder has on several occasions teased the possibility of taking Ngannou on in mixed martial arts — becoming one of just a handful of top level boxers to openly flirt with a cross-code battle in the cage.

What happens next is anyone’s guess but as we have learned particularly well in recent years with this influx of Saudi cash, in combat sports money talks.