Just days after taking a devastating sixth-round knockout from Anthony Joshua, Jake Paul is already fixated on his next opponent: Francis Ngannou. During an appearance on the IMPAULSIVE podcast on December 23, Paul doubled down on his long-standing feud with the former UFC heavyweight champion, claiming he’d outperform the Cameroonian fighter if they ever stepped into the ring together.
Jake Paul Wants Francis Ngannou Next
“I told everyone that I’d do better than Francis,” Paul said, still nursing a double fractured jaw that required titanium plates and surgery. “Francis kind of got no chin. Francis is lowkey soft. I think maybe now he’ll take the fight.” The callout adds another chapter to a rivalry that has been simmering since November, when Paul’s promotional team first approached Ngannou as a replacement fighter after Gervonta Davis pulled out of their scheduled contest.
Ngannou had firmly rejected the offer at the time, telling TMZ that the fight made no sense for him professionally. The former UFC champion, who lost a dominant second-round knockout to Joshua back in March 2024, viewed a Paul matchup as beneath him. “I’m like, ‘no bro, come on’. Don’t disrespect me like that,” Ngannou said in November. That refusal clearly still stings Paul, who shifted his focus to Joshua when Ngannou declined—a decision that resulted in Friday night’s brutal beating in Miami.
The specifics of Paul‘s loss only seem to have emboldened his Ngannou callout. Joshua dropped him four times across the fifth and sixth rounds before referee Christopher Young waved off the bout at 1:31 of the sixth. Blood poured from Paul’s mouth as he spat in interviews, his fractured jaw a stark reminder of the gap between him and genuine heavyweight contenders. Ngannou previously lost to Joshua via second-round KO.
Paul’s MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian had previously commented on why Ngannou refused the fight, suggesting that the former UFC champion feared what a loss could mean for his boxing credibility. Francis cannot afford to lose to Jake Paul in boxing because he’s already been knocked out by Anthony Joshua. So if he wants to have any future opportunities in boxing, it certainly wouldn’t serve him well,” Bidarian said in November. That reality hasn’t stopped Paul from pressing the issue, even from a hospital bed with titanium in his jaw.
Whether Ngannou gives Paul’s callout serious consideration remains unclear. The former UFC champion hasn’t publicly responded to Paul’s latest jabs, and his PFL contract is set to expire soon, potentially opening the door to other opportunities.
