UFC Fighter Francis Ngannou to Join 'Fast & Furious' Cast

UFC star Francis Ngannou is making his way to the silver screen very soon. According to Deadline, Ngannou will appear in the film Fast & Furious 9 which is set to be released next year. He will be the third mixed martial arts fighter to star in the franchise as Gina Carano was in Fast & Furious 6 while Ronda Rousey was in Furious 7. The plot of the film has yet to be released, but odds are Ngannou will be beating down a few people just like Carano and Rousey.

Nicknamed "The Predator," Ngannou is the No. 2-ranked fighter in the heavyweight division. His last fight was in June and he defeated former UFC Heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos via TKO. Earlier in the year, Ngannou took out another UFC Heavyweight Champion, Cain Velazquez, via knockout. In 17 MMA matches, "The Predator" has won 14 of them. One of his losses came against Stipe Miocic which was for the UFC Heavyweight title back in January 2018.

Fast and Furious 9 is one of the more anticipated films of 2020. The news of Ngannou comes on the heels of Jordan Brewster announcing she will be in the film. Brewster is a franchise regular, but she did not appear in the last film, The Fate of the Furious. One person that is happy to have Brewster back is Michelle Rodriguez who said she would love to have more scenes with her.

"I can count with two hands how many times I spoke to my female colleagues. Like Jordana, who played the sister. I've been in the franchise for 16 years, and I can count on both hands how many times we've actually had a conversation on screen, and I thought that was pathetic," Rodriguez said at the time. "And I said if I'm coming back, I really want there to be a female writer to give it a female voice, and finally they showed me some love."

It was also announced that WWE superstar John Cena will be in Fast & Furious 9. It's been reported that Cena will replace Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson who won't be in the film. Johnson stars in the spin-off film, Hobbs & Shaw, which has grossed over $330 million worldwide.

Fast and Furious 9 is set to hit theatres on May 22, 2020.