Renan Ferreira Willing to Face Francis Ngannou in MMA or Boxing

After a 21-second technical knockout victory over Bellator MMA heavyweight king Ryan Bader last Saturday at PFL vs. Bellator, Renan Ferreira is 100% focused on a fight with Francis Ngannou.

Although Ngannou left the venue without entering the cage for a faceoff with the 2023 PFL heavyweight champion, Ferreira did not interpret those actions as a lack of interest in a future fight.

“Since Francis entered the PFL, that’s the fight everybody wants to see,” Ferreira told Sherdog.com. “I interpreted his attitude after my knockout to be much more of a respectful one. I think Francis knew that this was my moment, and he just respected that. I don’t see any other fight that makes sense for both of us. If he wants to make that in boxing or MMA it will not be a problem to me.”

Ferreira believes he will present some stylistic challenges for the Cameroonian-born Frenchman.

“Francis is a different guy, very strong with knockout power, but I see him walking straight forward all the time,” Ferreira said. “When he fought a guy like Ciryl Gane, who is faster with great footwork, Gane was able to hit him a couple of times. I also move fast, but the difference between me and Gane is my knockout power. Of course, this will be the biggest challenge of my life, but I truly believe I have more knockout power and I can surprise Ngannou.”

Ngannou is currently slated to face Anthony Joshua in a boxing match in Saudi Arabia on March 8. With that in mind, Ferreira plans on returning to action in the second half of the year.

“Ngannou has a contract with PFL saying he must do an MMA fight [by] July,” Ferreira said. “I’ll be ready when they decide.”

Ferreira also to took to praise American Top Team for his evolution in all aspects of MMA.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t have many options for sparring at Team Nogueira,” he said. “But at ATT I found some of the best heavyweights in the world. Training daily with top guys like [Junior dos Santos, Marcus Almeida, Augusto Sakai, Marcos Rogerio de Lima, Sergei Pavlovich] and [being overseen] by top trainers like Conan [Silveira] and [Steve] Mocco was a definitely a turning point in my career.”

Fereira revealed that suffered a pretty significant cut during a sparring session against Pavlovich.

“There is no easy training at ATT,” Ferreira said. “In my last sparring [session] with Pavlovich, I needed 15 stitches for a cut opened on my face by his kick. But he is such a nice guy, very humble and open to teach and learn.”

Ferreira endured many hardships before choosing MMA as his career path. Winning the $1 million that accompanied the 2023 PFL Championship proved to be a life-changing event.

“I was raised by my mother along with seven siblings in a landless settlement in the interior of Goiás,” he said. “When I started in MMA in 2013, I slept in CT and often only had money to eat stir-fried noodles. I worked so hard for 10 years to be able to celebrate two belts and this wonderful prize of $1 million that will change my life and that of my family.”

So far, Ferreira has only invested his winnings in a vehicle.

“After the victory in the [PFL final], I was called to fight with Bader and I only had time to buy a car so I could come to ATT for training,” Ferreira said. “My plans are to reinvest in my career. I really like life here in America. I want to buy a house here, so I can be closer to the gym. In fact, I haven't stopped to think about what I'm going to do. My focus is on reinvesting in my career.”