Francis Ngannou revealed that a backstage meeting with Jake Paul at their Los Angeles press conference nearly turned physical, despite the two presenting a friendly face in public.
Ngannou is set to fight Philipe Lins on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood on the first-ever Most Valuable Promotions MMA card on Netflix. Paul and his business partner, Nakisa Bidarian, promoted the event and were both present at the launch press conference in March.
The meeting carried some awkward history. There had been talk of Ngannou stepping in as Paul’s opponent when he needed someone to replace Gervonta Davis last year before Anthony Joshua ultimately got the assignment instead.
When the two came together backstage, the interaction appeared cordial on video. Ngannou’s account of his actual mindset in that moment was considerably less friendly.
“I just wanted to give him a slap,” Ngannou told The Schmo, before adding a qualifier. He also weighed in on Paul’s decision to continue competing at heavyweight following his jaw being broken by Joshua, suggesting the experience might have prompted a weight class reassessment. “He is talking a lot of crap. I think and I thought after his first heavyweight fight he would understand, but he’s persistent.”