A dominant heavyweight champion continues to campaign for a showdown with Francis Ngannou, and his name isn’t Jon Jones.
If you’re a die-hard UFC fanatic, you may remember a highly-touted prospect by the name of Phil De Fries. The 6’4 heavyweight from Sunderland entered the world’s most prominent promotion in 2011, earning a decision win against Rob Broughton. However, his time in the UFC didn’t last as long as he may have hoped at the time. He lost three of his next four fights in the UFC and struggled to maintain his mental health.
Now, at 39, De Fries’ time in the UFC feels like it was a lifetime ago. After a brief stint in Bellator, the then-31-year-old made his debut in Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW), the most prominent mixed martial arts promotion in Poland. He beat touted prospect Micha? Andryszak on April 14, 2018, to win the KSW Heavyweight Championship, and he hasn’t relinquished the belt since.
As he enters the backstretch of his mixed martial arts career, De Fries is looking for a big fight to showcase what many MMA insiders already know — he’s a bad man who can compete at the highest level. With Jon Jones seemingly in a standoff with the UFC and De Fries’ teammate, Tom Aspinall, the next best available opponent is the promotion’s former heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou.
In 2023, De Fries made it clear to Ariel Helwani that he’d like to fight the current PFL Heavyweight Champion.
“Let’s do a cross promotion, let’s bring it over,” he told Helwani. “Let’s just do it. I think I’m the right sort of guy to beat Francis. You need a grappler to beat that sort of guy and I’d be more than happy to do it wherever. Let’s just get it on.”
Two years have passed and Ngannou has fought in the PFL once. On October 19, 2024, he made his smart cage debut and took out Renan Ferreira in one round. Still, De Fries is looking to fight Ngannou.
“I’d love Ngannou,” De Fries told Bloody Elbow. “I’d love that Ngannou fight, but I don’t know if he’s too rich off the boxing fights to come back.”
Ngannou hasn’t fought in the boxing ring or the smart cage since October 19, 2024, and hasn’t announced a fight thus far in 2025. The 38-year-old PFL Champion hasn’t expressed an interest in retirement, but at the moment, it is unclear if he’ll return to smart cage or the boxing ring in the near future.
