Impa Kasanganay Calls Out Ngannou Following PFL Title Victory
Impa Kasanganay, the new PFL light heavyweight champion, is targeting a fight with Francis Ngannou.
The comments arrive after his victory over Josh Silveira at the 2023 PFL World Championship Finals. Impa dominated proceedings from the opening round as he landed on his opponent at will. And in the process of doing so, Silveira’s attempts at securing a takedown failed as Impa coasted towards a unanimous decision: 50-45, 50-45, 50-45. The win took his record to 4-0 in the SmartCage.
And moving forward, Impa has plenty of options. Following the PFL’s decision to acquire Bellator, Impa could face off against Vadim Nemkov, the current Bellator light heavyweight champion. In addition, there is also the possibility that Impa moves back down to middleweight to take on the undefeated Bellator champion Johnny Eblen. Despite having those numerous options, Impa’s focus was to clear. The MMA fighter wanted to move up to take on Ngannou.
Impa On Ngannou
“I’d love to fight Nemkov and Ngannou. Johnny Eblen may come up, I believe my dog Aaron Jeffery is next in line to fight Eblen and get that Bellator title, whatever God’s plan is. I love to stay active, I love to fight. I’m ready to go back in the gym. I believe Ngannou is possible for sure. I’m a Christian, anything is possible with God. Ngannou’s a warrior. I’ve met him once when at the [UFC Performance Institute]. I think he’s an amazing man — I’m very inspired by him, he wants to be the best,” Impa said
This naturally begs the question: Will the fight happen? Well, as of now, Ngannou’s next steps are unclear. He is expected to make his PFL debut in 2024. However, his recent success in the sport of boxing may have thrown a spanner in the works. On his boxing debut against Tyson Fury, the former UFC heavyweight champion put in an impressive performance.
The MMA fighter dropped Fury in round three and lasted the distance, with some believing he had been robbed of a win after coming second best via a split decision. That linked Ngannou with fights against Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder. Despite that being the case, Impa wanted to face the best.
Impa’s Aim
“If Ngannou were to beat me, he keeps everything, take my whole purse, I don’t care. I’ll take him out. I’m here to be the best. On the other side of that, I take him out, pay me $15 million…Francis, if you’re out there, I’ve got respect for you. Thank you for being a great African champion, thank you for all you’ve done. Let’s get it. Let’s fight in the cage, let’s do the PFL Africa inaugural fight. I’ll meet you in Saudi Arabia, I’ll meet you in South Africa. I have all the respect, I’ll never disrespect you,” Impa stated
With both fighters under the PFL banner, the prospects of the fight happening are high. And with Jones Jones looking unlikely to face Ngannou, the latter’s choices of MMA opponents are slim. ‘Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com’
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