"A very good friend of mine, a serious guy, he’s the boss of a large MMA organization, called me and said: 'I know you're training, that you're in good shape. Are you ready to fight Francis Ngannou?' I asked: 'Fight who?' He repeated: 'Francis Ngannou.' I replied to him: 'You mean fight? As in a fight or more like cards, chess, swimming, running? Do you mean fight as in a fight?' And he said: 'Yes, under MMA rules.'
I started giggling. He is crazy! If I had to make a list from worst to best opponents, Francis Ngannou would be the worst option! He asked me for the fee I would go for. I said I would need $500K to fight him and $19.5 million to see my mother’s reaction when she finds out I am fighting Ngannou.
The offer came too late for me, for May. They should have called me three months earlier to start preparing for a fight for which they allegedly would pay me $20 million. Who would spend it after he kills me (laughs)," Filipović said in an interview with RMC Sport.