Fight fans will finally get to see Francis Ngannou make his long-awaited PFL debut at one of the promotion’s upcoming PPV events.
Ngannou shook the MMA landscape last year when he walked away from the UFC as the promotion’s reigning heavyweight champion and joined the PFL, but plans for the 37-year-old’s debut were put on hold for a boxing match with Tyson Fury before he most recently took on Anthony Joshua.
Joshua stopped “The Predator” in the second round after Ngannou nearly upset Fury in his boxing debut, and now PFL chairman and co-founder Donn Davis has provided a major update on plans for the former UFC champion to debut in the PFL against Renan Ferreira.
“[Ngannou vs. Ferreira] will be a PPV fight," Davis said on The MMA Hour. "That [card] will also have Cris Cyborg against Larissa Pacheco as the co-main fight. That [card] will also have Cedric Doumbe, against somebody we’ll announce. So that [card] is gonna be big, just because of Francis. But that [card] will have other very compelling matchups on it.”
Ngannou’s deal with the PFL immediately sparked conversation around who the Cameroonian’s first opponent would be, and at last month’s PFL vs. Bellator event Ferreira put himself in line for that matchup when he knocked out Ryan Bader in just 21 seconds.
The heavyweight main event featuring Ngannou and Ferreira as well as the other bouts mentioned by Davis could make that PPV event the biggest card in PFL history, but unfortunately fans will have to wait for an update on specific details other than the planned location.
“That fight card will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. But the details in terms of the full card, the details in terms of the month and the timing, we won’t announce that for about two more months."
“The Predator” is less than two weeks removed from his knockout-loss to Joshua in the boxing ring, and it will be interesting to see if and when he comments on the plans for his PFL debut considering Ngannou recently suggested he might be interested in a third boxing match.
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