Francis Ngannou Says He Wants to Fight for the Title as Soon as Possible

Speaking at last night’s post-fight press conference for UFC 218 (via MMAjunkie), heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou discussed his first-round knockout win over Alistair Overeem and likely fighting Stipe Miocic for the title next. Below are some highlights.

Ngannou on when he wants to fight for the title: “As soon as possibl. I’m injury-free, so I’m ready to go. I’ve been out a long time (before UFC 218) – like 10 months – and now I want to (fight again).”

Ngannou’s thoughts on fighting Stipe Miocic and what’s next: “I have a thousand things to do in MMA. I’m going to do a good training camp because Stipe is a champ. He’s a good guy. He’s doing well, so I need to prepare and have a good training camp. I’ll probably also go to Paris for a while and do some of my training camp there. I’ll go to Cameroon and visit my family and keep helping them too.”

Francis Ngannou on wanting a bonus: “That’s a good thing. I do need that money. I moved from Paris to Vegas, so that took a lot of money. I need some money now. And I was out for 10 months. And to be honest, every one of you guys loves money too. … The fight between me and Stipe, it will go the same way as the other ones – knockout.”

Francis Ngannou on his goals: “First of all, I want to be the first African to have a UFC belt. I want to be the one to open the UFC in Africa, basically in Cameroon. I want Cameroon to be the first country in Africa to (host) the UFC. It’d be good. It’d be honor for me.”