Francis Ngannou wants to fight Tyson Fury this year - a proposal which could spell the end of his UFC career.
The heavyweight star clung on to his title at UFC 270 last night with a narrow but deserved points win over Ciryl Gane.
Ngannou's win means his contract, which had been due to expire, will be extended by either three fights or one year.
And with the Cameroonian expected to be sidelined for several moths due to a knee injury, he may opt to walk away from the promotion.
Ngannou tore muscles in his knee three weeks before his first defence of his UFC title and was advised to pull out of the fight.
But he refused and instead opted to take the bout to the canvas in the third and fourth rounds to leave the title fight on a knife edge going into the final stanza.
Ngannou then did enough over the final five minutes before each of the three judges gave him the nod.
Fury then called out his heavyweight rival, saying: "Congratulations, Francis Ngannou but if you want to make real money, come see the big Gypsy King."
Ngannou later responded by posting a fight poster emblazoned with "2022" having earlier reiterated his desire to swap the cage for the ring before he retires.
"As I always say, boxing is always in the back of my pocket. It's something that I must do before the end of my career," he said.
"And right now, I'm really looking towards any opportunity to get that because it's not like I had a lifetime here so I better start thinking about it."
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Fury's immediate fighting future is clouded in uncertainty after interest from the Middle East in staging an undisputed fight between the Brit and fellow champion Oleksandr Usyk.
That would require Anthony Joshua to give up his option of a rematch with Usyk after the Ukrainian out-boxed the former champion last September.
It would also rely on Dillian Whyte giving up his mandatory shot at Fury, a fight for which purse bids are due on Wednesday.
It is understood Joshua would require a step-aside payment of at least £15million with Whyte demanding at least £5m.
Should Fury defeat Usyk, he could then face Joshua or Whyte - or turn his attention to Ngannou.
