Hassan N'Dam still has some fight left in him, but it will instead be in an MMA cage.

The former two-time middleweight champion N'Dam (37-5, 21 KOs) has signed a deal with upstart Afro-European MMA promotion ARES FC.

“First signature, I went with ARES, simply because you have to sign with the big guys. ARES is for me the best MMA promotion in France,” N'Dam said in a video published Monday.

In the video, N'Dam can be seen outdoors hitting mitts with boxing gloves against ARES FC ambassador and UFC heavyweight prospect Ciryl Gane.

“At ARES, our objective is to develop the talents of Africa, the talents of Europe, and to date, Hassan has a main role in the world of combat sport,” said ARES president Fernand Lopez. “He started boxing back in Cameroon, and he proved to the world that he could go to the highest level. His idea to start MMA is to prove to the world that it can happen at the highest level.”

N'Dam, a 15-year professional, was last in a boxing ring in December, losing a unanimous decision to Fedor Chudinon as a super middleweight.

The two-time Cameroonian Olympian (2004, 2016) has lost three of his last four bouts.

The 36-year-old’s losses were sandwiched with a 2018 majority decision win over Martin Murray.

N'Dam has been in the ring against opponents like David Lemieux (loss), Callum Smith (loss), Peter Quillin (loss), Curtis Stevens (win) and Ryoto Murata (one win; one loss), but it is not yet clear what caliber of opponents he will face in MMA.

Although N'Dam seems to be putting a pause on his time as a pugilist, he’s still paying it forward by teaching others the sweet science.

N’Dam’s father-in-law recently overcame a battle with the COVID-19, and instead of gifts, N'Dam gave the staff at Villeneuve-Saint-Georges Hospital boxing lessons.

“[Material gifts] are things that won’t last. I wanted to leave something quite memorable. [The lessons will help in] letting off steam, getting rid of all one’s emotions. They have seen so many [difficult] things that they came here looking for something,” said N’Dam to AP. “Sometimes they came to laugh, to let off steam. Others came to discover something, others to learn, improve.”

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist and member of the Boxing Writers Assn. of America since 2011. He has written for the likes of the LA Times, Guardian, USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, Men’s Health and NFL.com. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan or via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com.