Tyson Fury very nearly lost to Francis Ngannou last year.

The British heavyweight was widely expected to do a number on the boxing debutant but put in a lacklustre performance.

After being dropped in the third round ‘The Gypsy King’ climbed off the canvas to win a controversial split-decision.

But, many felt the former UFC star had done enough to win the fight including Joe Rogan who believes ‘The fix’ was in.

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“I thought he won that fight,” Rogan said on his Joe Rogan Experience podcast. “But, you know, they were setting up that [Oleksandr] Usyk fight. They were not gonna let — yeah, it just seemed like the fix was in a little bit.

“It was close enough that they could pull it off,” he continued. “You could go, ‘Okay, maybe. Maybe you could see him winning that,’ but I don’t think so. I thought Francis won it. A lot of people thought Francis won it.”

Fury was due to take on Oleksandr Usyk just two months later but ultimately that fight date was rescheduled due his performance.

Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou would both go on to lose their next fights to Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua respectively but could meet again if Turki Alalshikh gets his way.