The UFC just can’t stop dropping bombshells lately. Dana White has been on an absolute tear, announcing huge fights left and right. Dustin Poirier’s retirement fight against Max Holloway is set, and both Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev are deep into their camps for International Fight Week. Plus, UFC 315 and 316 are shaping up to be massive events. With all that heat, it’s pretty hard for any other promotion to steal the spotlight. But they’re not backing down. A mammoth comeback might be in the works for Francis Ngannou.

Francis Ngannou dipped out of the UFC and signed with PFL back in 2023. He was supposed to make his MMA debut in the new promotion in 2024. But for a while, it was kind of rough finding ‘The Predator’ a good opponent. At one point, KSW’s co-owner, Martin Lewandowski, threw Phil De Fries’ name into the mix, trying to set up a comeback fight. That crossover fight never happened because Ngannou was still busy getting ready for Tyson Fury at the time. So, overall circumstances seized this opportunity for the Polish promotion.

Martin Lewandowski thinks this year might actually be the perfect shot to bring that crossover fight back. Eddie Hall and Mariusz Pudzianowski, two former strongman legends, are throwing down at KSW 105 this Saturday in Gliwice. They’re headlining the card. Lewandowski figures whoever wins could be the guy to face Francis Ngannou next.

He told MMA Fighting, “I’m in touch with the guys from PFL. So definitely we can talk about this kind of match if they would be willing to share the fighter, no problem. I can say from now that I’m interested to do that, definitely.”

Ngannou smoked Renan Ferreira in the first round in his last fight, but it’s been almost a year now since he’s been in the cage. A few weeks back, the former UFC heavyweight champ jumped on Instagram and dropped an update, saying, “My next project in Batié is a masterpiece and very personal, so I don’t just assign it to people; I follow it closely, to the point of becoming an excavator operator. Stay tuned for what’s coming out of the ground.” So now, the big question is when ‘The Predator’ is going to make his comeback.

KSW’s got a massive event coming up, and it’s gonna mark Eddie Hall’s MMA debut too. But what really makes this one stand out is the unique twist, thanks to a special request from ‘The Beast’ himself. The ruleset ended up being one of the biggest things they had to figure out, and according to Martin Lewandowski, it actually took way longer to lock everything down than most people would think.

Eddie Hall vs Mariusz Pudzianowski took over a year to take place put together

Eddie Hall’s the new guy in the cage, but Mariusz Pudzianowski’s already been around, with 26 pro-MMA fights under his belt. The British ‘Beast’ has shown he’s got that fighting spirit too. Even though he lost, he went toe-to-toe with Hafthor Bjornsson in a boxing match. When you’re talking about two of the heaviest and strongest men on the planet, you expect that putting a fight together won’t be the easiest thing. So Martin Lewandowski shared a bit about how tricky it was to make this fight happen.

KSW’s co-owner, while continuing his interview with MMA Fighting, said, “It’s been, I think nearly a year I’ve been trying to match up this fight. Actually, I asked Mariusz to contact me with Eddie Hall because Mariusz used to be the strongest man, a five-time world champion, and Eddie was in 2017. So I asked him, ‘Do you know Eddie?’ ‘Of course, of course.’ So he put me in touch with Eddie and I start trying to convince him to make his debut in KSW.”

He added, “And so it’s been nearly a year since we’ve been in touch. So finally, 26th of April, this Saturday, this fight will happen. But yes, it’s been a quite a long, bumpy road to negotiate to put those two big guys, in one time, in one round cage in KSW. So that was fun to negotiate with Eddie, really.”

The fight’s going to happen under traditional MMA rules, but there’s a twist! It’s only two rounds, and each round’s just four minutes long. Plus, instead of the usual one-minute break between rounds, they’re getting 90 seconds with their teams in the corner. So, who do you think comes out on top in this unusual showdown? Drop your picks in the comments!