Heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is demanding a clause that would allow him to fight Tyson Fury in his next UFC contract.
The hard-hitting Cameroonian fighter could be on the outs with the promotion as contract renegotiation talks have stalled, with his UFC future hanging in the balance after his next fight.
He will face former sparring partner Ciryl Gane later this month at UFC 270 in California, and as it stands, will be out of the promotion if he loses.
But should he win, an extension will be triggered to allow him to defend his title once again.
And he has said that on his next contract with the UFC, he wants to be given a guarantee that he will be allowed to box against a fighter of the calibre of Fury or his old rival Deontay Wilder.
“It’s always been down the line; this is something that I’m not taking my eyes off,” Ngannou said in a recent interview with TMZ.
“This is going [to] happen either way. Even if I stay... If, or when, the UFC and I finalise a deal, the boxing part has to be in it.
“I can’t see myself retiring without boxing.”
The UFC champion is one of the hardest hitting punchers in combat sports history, having knocked out all but one of his opponents since signing with the promotion.
And he has said that he would really like to test himself against Fury or Wilder, to see how his skills hold up at world level in boxing.
“I would like to test myself to their level,” Ngannou responded when asked whom he would like to face.
“It’s not the same sport, but I’m the champion, so I’m in the top in this division.
"At the end of the day, it’s just about throwing hands, throwing punches, having a good delivery system to throw those bombs.
“I’m sure that if I deliver my own punches pretty good, I can [do] some damage.”
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But Ngannou will first have to worry about getting past the unbeaten Frenchman Gane on January 22.
The interim heavyweight champion comprehensively took apart Derrick Lewis to win the strap back in August, and is a much more technically proficient fighter than Ngannou.
But it has become clear that the heavy-hitting champion only needs to land once to knock out even the best fighters the promotion has to offer.
The pair were once friends, and trained together at the MMA Factory gym in Paris before Gane was signed to the organisation.
But they have since become bitter rivals, with Ngannou branding Gane's coach, under whom he has trained before, "evil".
And the rivalry was exacerbated when Gane was handed a shot at the interim title against Lewis after a deal couldn't be reached for Ngannou to rematch the American for the belt.
