Deontay Wilder has appeared to welcome a mouthwatering showdown with former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.

Ngannou revealed on The Ariel Helwani Show last month that he wants to return to boxing and named ex-heavyweight king Wilder as his primary target.

Wilder’s manager, Shelly Finkel, subsequently dismissed the chances of the fight happening in 2025 and suggested his man would be chasing bouts with Anthony Joshua or Oleksandr Usyk next year, but Wilder has now delivered his own message on social media.

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Alongside a video of himself connecting with a huge right hand on the pads, Wilder wrote on Instagram: “Respect, but I’m ten toes down no fear, no fold, no fake… always ready, always solid.

“Step in the ring and you’ll see what that means @francisngannou.”

Wilder made his comeback in June following a 12-month absence to stop fellow American Tyrrell Herndon inside seven rounds. Wilder had lost four of his previous five fights after holding the WBC heavyweight title between 2015 and 2020.

Meanwhile, Ngannou has only stepped into the boxing ring on two occasions after leaving the UFC. He was controversially outpointed by Tyson Fury in October 2023 before being brutally knocked out by Joshua five months later.

Ngannou returned to MMA to beat Brazil’s Renan Ferreira via first-round knockout last October but feels he has unfinished business with boxing.

Speaking about a potential fight with Wilder recently, Ngannou told journalist Helwani: “We haven’t engaged personally, but it’s going to be soon. We are setting some things up.”

Wilder now seems to have given the green light for the fight to happen as he looks to build momentum in his career after a difficult run.

And it may happen sooner rather than later, with Wilder set to turn 40 next month. Time is not on his side, meaning the crossover contest could be arranged swiftly, as Wilder bids to make one final push to get back into the title mix before hanging up his gloves.

Deontay Wilder vs Francis Ngannou fight takes huge blow as promoter gives new conflicting update

Deontay Wilder’s advisor, Shelly Finkel, has ruled out Francis Ngannou as his next opponent.

Wilder and Ngannou have been heavily linked to fighting in the past, and according to the latter they were close to finalising a bout before the end of 2025.

Ngannou recently issued an update that they were setting things up in order to action a crossover bout between the rivals.

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Although, Wilder’s camp have since revealed their stance on the matter.

Finkel told World Boxing News that the potential MMA-boxing crossover bout between the two stars won’t be taking place any time soon.

He said: “Deontay Wilder will not be facing Francis Ngannou in 2025.

“That fight is not happening this year.”

Wilder is coming off of a win against Tyrrell Herndon in June, hosted by Global Combat Collective, which ended via knockout in the seventh-round.

When asked about Wilder having a potential contract with them to host his next fight, Finkell also shut down that rumour.

He stated: “Deontay doesn’t have a deal with anyone.”

‘The Bronze Bomber’ welcomed a return to winning ways against Herndon, having lost his previous two bouts against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang.

He boasts a professional record of 44-4-1, with his only other two losses coming against Tyson Fury.

While it is off the cards for now, there is still a chance that Wilder could face Ngannou next year in what would be guaranteed to be an explosive bout.

Ngannou is a decorated MMA legend, he is 0-2 in his boxing ventures having lost to both Fury and Anthony Joshua.

The former UFC heavyweight champion made the move to the Professional Fighters League (PFL).

Although he has only fought once since his UFC departure, against Renan Ferreira, Ngannou is expected to be pursuing a return to the cage by any means.

What’s next for Deontay Wilder?

Finkel’s comments seem to suggest that Wilder is pursuing a traditional boxing bout for his next outing.

The Bronze Bomber’s famous advisor had suggested that he will fight before the end of 2026.

But it is likely he will once again take to the ring in a lower-level tune-up fight to try and continue his positive momentum, after ending a two-fight skid of defeats.

Wilder has also been linked to a number of alternative opponents including British heavyweight Dave Allen.

But Allen is instead now fighting Arslanbek Makhmudov and is now out of the running.

It is likely that the commercial mega fights that he so craves against the likes of undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua won’t materialise until 2026.

Francis Ngannou gives major update on Deontay Wilder clash as surprising target date revealed

Francis Ngannou has his sights firmly set on Deontay Wilder as his next opponent.

Ngannou and Wilder have been heavily linked to fighting in the past, as they have both publicly spoken about a fight numerous times.

Ngannou is looking to make his comeback to MMA, having been out of action since he fought Renan Ferreira in 2024.

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Although, he is expected to return to the squared circle first.

As Ngannou considers his next move, he has now revealed on The Ariel Helwani Show that negotiations are in motion for him to finally fight Wilder this year.

Ngannou explained: “There’s nothing yet, I don’t think they have an opening for me, so we will wait [for an MMA return]

“We still have time. Meanwhile, we’re trying on the Deontay Wilder fight.”

Helwani asked the ‘The Predator’ if he wanted to fight Wilder in his next outing.

Ngannou replied: “Yes. I do.

“We haven’t engaged personally, but it’s gonna be soon.

“We are setting some things up, but I keep training. I’m training.”

Ngannou was the UFC heavyweight champion before he moved to the Professional Fighters League (PFL), but is currently 0-2 in his boxing career.

In 2023, when he made his debut, Ngannou knocked down Tyson Fury before ultimately losing via split decision.

During his second bout, he suffered a brutal knock-out at the hands of Anthony Joshua in 2024.

A fight between Ngannou and Wilder would be a challenging bout, men are tipped as two of the most dangerous punchers and elite talents in combat sports today.

Should the stars cross paths, I’d believed that the rules of UFC and boxing would be combined.

Would Francis Ngannou vs Deontay Wilder be a good match-up?

Ngannou boasts an impressive MMA record of 18-3, as well as his two boxing losses.

Wilder is 44-4-1 in his professional boxing career, with 43 of his wins coming by way of knockout.

After suffering back-to-back defeats to Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang, he returned to winning ways when he knocked out Tyrrell Herndon in June.

A bout between Wilder and Ngannou would explain his firm refusal to fight Jarrell Miller on the undercard of Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford.

Should talks reach an agreement it’s certain that an explosive encounter awaits, no matter how the hybrid rules are structured.