Francis Ngannou’s PFL Run Ends Abruptly As Promotion Cuts Ties After Single Fight

Ngannou’s time with PFL was eventful in ways that had very little to do with MMA. He signed with the promotion in May 2023 and competed just once inside the cage, knocking out Renan Ferreira in October 2024 in the kind of violent, emphatic finish that reminded everyone why his name still carries the weight it does. 

But the headlines during his PFL tenure belonged to boxing, a competitive showing against Tyson Fury that genuinely surprised the combat sports world, followed by a bout against Anthony Joshua. Meanwhile, he lost both boxing bouts, but says he has no regrets about leaving the UFC since he got paid.

Matt Brown Shuts Down Claims Francis Ngannou Regrets Leaving UFC

Brown is not interested in the narrative that frames Ngannou’s post-UFC career as a disappointment. Where others see a legacy complicated by inactivity and a short MMA run with PFL, Brown sees a man who understood the assignment better than most fighters ever do. 

Ngannou left the UFC, secured two of the biggest boxing matches available to him, earned far more than MMA’s pay structure likely would have paid, and walked away from PFL as a free agent with his finances and future secured.

Brown said, “In terms of prizefighting, which is what we are doing, he won. He won the prize fight, he got the f------ prize and he fought for it. He got the f------ prize.”

Meanwhile, whether he returns to MMA, continues in boxing, or finds a hybrid path somewhere between the two remains entirely open. But at forty years old with a clean slate and unfinished business in the sport that made him, the next chapter of Francis Ngannou’s career just became one of the most interesting stories in combat sports.