Francis Ngannou says he has “never left MMA” and does not rule out the possibility of continuing his boxing career.

The heavyweight will fight Renan Ferreira on October 19 in his first MMA fight since January 2022, after having fought two boxing matches since then.

Ngannou, 37, lost to former world champions Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, but says he doesn’t call his return to MMA a “comeback.”

“I never left MMA. And I never left boxing,” Ngannou told BBC Sport.

“I’m not going back to MMA, I never left MMA. That’s the confusion.”

Ngannou has only three losses in 20 MMA fights and 12 of those wins have been by knockout.

The 34-year-old Ferreira has scored 11 knockouts in his 13 wins.

Ngannou is a former UFC champion, but left the organization partially to pursue boxing in addition to his MMA career.

The Cameroonian announced his move to rival MMA federation PFL in May 2023, but then took part in several boxing matches.

Despite suffering a controversial points loss to Fury and then a heavy KO loss to Joshua, Ngannou does not consider his transition to boxing a “negative” experience.

“The fact that these fights took place at all was something extraordinary,” he said.

“I had this dream for over 20 years and now I have finally made it a reality. This was the pursuit of a dream, a lifelong dream that I have fulfilled.”