Francis Ngannou insists he wasn’t feeling himself before his fight with Anthony Joshua.

The Cameroonian cage fighter had caused Tyson Fury all kinds of problems when they squared off in December.

Ngannou was knocked out by Joshua in MarchCredit: Getty

However, AJ had no such issues as he dropped Ngannou three times en route to a second-round stoppage in March.

Ngannou’s night got off to a disastrous start when he was decked by a right hand in the opening stanza.

He did well to regain his footing and make his way back to his corner after what appeared to be a heavy knockdown.

But the former UFC heavyweight champion claims it wasn’t the punch that sent him tumbling to the canvas.

“I got into the ring and I wasn’t feeling myself,” Ngannou told Joe Rogan during the most recent episode of his podcast.

Ngannou doesn’t remember anything beyond the first roundCredit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom

“The first round when he knocked me down and I fell and I was like, ‘Did I slip?’ What exactly knocked me down? I felt the punch but it wasn’t the punch that knocked me down.

“I really got confused at that time. I was like ‘Damn, what?’

“But from that moment I got knocked down with a punch that wasn’t that hard.

“He hit my hand before he hit my face and I felt it, I felt the punch but it wasn’t [enough to put me] on the floor.

“I get a count, I stood up we finished the round and I went to my corner.

“But by the time I went to my corner, I never came back from that, from there I don’t remember when I left the stool to get into the second round.

“I remember exactly what happened until I got to the stool. I remember sitting there and I started to have blurry vision.

Ngannou has said he’s looking to return in OctoberCredit: Getty

“The guy in front of me was speaking to me and then the voice was getting distant.

“I don’t know if it was the fatigue, but something wasn’t right.”

Ngannou previously claimed he was ‘falling asleep’ before the fight and insisted he had been tricked into getting to the arena way before Joshua.

He ponders whether this is what affected him, adding: “Maybe it is the fact I got there at that time [before Joshua].”

Ngannou has taken an extended break from the public eye following the tragic death of his 15-month-old son in April.

But he has now revealed he’s ready to return to MMA and is looking to face Renan Ferreira in the PFL in October.

“It’s not finalised yet, but they were talking about 19 October,” Ngannou said.

“I’ve been telling people about this guy [Ferreira] for almost two years.

“I said ‘watch this guy’. Very athletic. Fast hands, one-two, knees – very athletic. So I think it’s going to be him.”