Coach: 'I would love to see' Ngannou stay in MMA after Ferreira win

Francis Ngannou's head coach says he'd like the heavyweight star to focus on mixed martial arts, not boxing, following his triumphant return over the weekend.

The former UFC heavyweight champion stepped into an MMA cage for the first time in nearly three years Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He destroyed Renan Ferreira with devastating ground-and-pound less than four minutes into the PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants main event. Ngannou captured the heavyweight super-fight title with the victory in his PFL debut.

Eric Nicksick believes Ngannou's performance - in particular, his use of wrestling to set up the TKO finish - was proof "The Predator" should keep going in the sport that got him to the dance.

"I would love to have him stick with MMA because he's really evolving his game, and we're seeing a complete mixed martial artist," Nicksick told "The Ariel Helwani Show" on Tuesday.

He added: "That was always one our goals, man, to finish a fight via ground-and-pound. And then we did it. I would love to see him continue in MMA because he's only getting better, in my opinion."

Ngannou has a handful of options as he decides his next move in combat sports. The Cameroonian pressed pause on his MMA career in 2023 to compete in boxing. He secured two megafights against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua - both of which he lost - before returning to MMA. Ngannou could seek another lucrative boxing payday, or he could stick with the PFL and defend his title.

As far as which path Ngannou will take, Nicksick tends to think the 38-year-old wants to box again.

"I think he can box and really take it easy on his body as much as possible and still be able to go out and generate some great revenue and move the needle. Maybe fight like a (Deontay) Wilder or something like that," Nicksick told SiriusXM's "MMA Today" on Monday. "That's a fun stylistic matchup that I think we would all love to watch and see.

"There's endless possibilities out there for him, but none of them have really been discussed to the gravity of like, 'Hey, this is what's next.'"