UFC heavyweight Francis Ngannou rocketed up the rankings in 2016, and he's looking to make 2017 even bigger. 

Already posting a win over former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski in January, Ngannou now looks to the top five in the division for his next meal. Unfortunately for them, he's not a picky eater. 

"[I am] the future heavyweight champ in the UFC," Ngannou said during a recent media event in Las Vegas. "[Next] I hope to take on somebody [in the top five]. Because I am now [ranked] six, so I need somebody up, like [Alistair] Overeem, [Cain] Velasquez, or [Junior] dos Santos." 

Now 5-0 in the UFC and 10-1 overall, Ngannou represents one of the scariest prospects in the sport today. At 6'4", 260 pounds, Ngannou is a physical specimen like few others, but the look translates to the action inside the cage as well. During his UFC run, he's notched five stoppages, and none of his fights have seen the third round. 

That said, Ngannou knows there are no easy fights within the eight-sided battle chamber. 

"Everyone in the UFC’s heavyweight division, everyone is a strong guy," Ngannou said. "In the top 10, everyone is a dangerous fighter...So I stay very careful about every one." 

While his run up the heavyweight ladder has been nearly flawless, Ngannou says he still looks up to some fighters, namely a Pride and UFC legend boasting some hellacious power of his own. 

"I look up to somebody like Dan Henderson," Ngannou said. "I like to fight." 

While nothing is set for Ngannou, he sees some faces he'd like to face next, and he doesn't much care where/when the bouts materialize. 

"I don’t know [if I will fight Velasquez in Dallas]," Ngannou said. "But something that I know [is] I would like to fight Velasquez next, Velasquez or dos Santos.

"That [the location of my next fight] is not my priority," he continued. "My priority is to win, to have a good fight. I don’t care where. I just want to have a good opponent and to have a good fight to win." 


​Watch the full interview with Ngannou, where he talks about potentially moving to the U.S. to train and much more, embedded above.