Hollywood, FL — Russian heavyweight Oleg Popov claimed victory in the PFL World Tournament on Friday, defeating UFC vet Alexander Romanov to do so.
Now, he has his sights set on another former UFC star: Francis Ngannou.
Ngannou has fought just once since signing with the PFL, in MMA anyway. Two bouts in boxing, with a third potentially coming later this year, have monopolized much of his time. With the PFL World Tournament at an end, however, many expect that Popov could be facing Ngannou next.
“The Predator” himself has downplayed that, but Popov is certainly open to it. Speaking in Russian with a translator, he displayed interest in both Ngannou and Denis Goltsov, who he has a previous loss to (the following translations are a mix of machine translation and Popov’s translator).
“He won’t get up from the floor. He can’t deny [my] wrestling,” Popov stated when asked about the potential match-up with Ngannou, still considered MMA’s lineal heavyweight champ. “His power, his clinch will never help him.”
“I’m faster, I’m better at fighting. Better wrestling. He has just heavy shots, that’s it.”
Of course, there’s the loss to Goltsov that Oleg Popov would like to avenge. “Ngannou is more promising,” he admitted. “I want Goltsov, but if PFL suggests to me Ngannou, let’s do it.”
Goltsov, it should be noted, is coming off a loss at this point. Making a match-up with the PFL World Tournament champ something of a question mark. Many now see Popov as deserving of the shot at Ngannou, given he’s lost just once since 2018, and only twice in a pro career that has him sitting at 22-2.
“I’m all for it. I’m all for a big name,” said Popov.
Earlier, he’s spoken of the fight with Romanov going the distance. Not exactly according to plan.
“I now understand that I can fight five-round fights without any worries, but the plan was not five rounds at all. I thought not. I thought he would get tired faster. He surprised me.”
Watch the full PFL Hollywood post-fight press conference with Oleg Popov above.
