Watch Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira PFL Press Conference, Ft. Jake Paul

The PFL is gearing up for its highly-anticipated pay-per-view event on Oct. 19 in Saudi Arabia, featuring two PFL Super Fights Championship fights. The main event features PFL heavyweight champion Renan Ferreira (13-3, 3 NC MMA) taking on lineal UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou (17-3 MMA) in Ngannou's first fight MMA fight since Jan. 2022.

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Ferreira enters the fight on a four-fight winning streak, including a 21-second KO/TKO against former Bellator and UFC veteran Ryan Bader (31-8 MMA, 9-2 Bellator) in February, establishing himself as one of the best heavyweights in the world. Meanwhile, Ngannou found a mixed bag of success in boxing after failed negotiations with the UFC.

Despite going 0-2 and losing to perennial heavyweight stars Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, Ngannou finally returns to MMA to undergo one of his most significant challenges to date and to reaffirm his status as the best heavyweight in the world.

Former UFC and Bellator champion Cris Cyborg and her opponent, PFL 2023 world champion Larissa Pacheco, will also attend the press conference. Cyborg has not made her PFL debut since she was sidelined during the PFL-Bellator merger. In the meantime, she has turned to professional boxing, where she has secured a 2-0 record in both professional and exhibition bouts since her last MMA fight in October 2023.

The press conference, scheduled for 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT Thursday from The Anthem in Washington, D.C., will also play host to Friday's final PFL playoff card.

Both Ferreira and Ngannou will be overseen by popular boxing star Jake Paul, who still intends to try his hand at MMA in the future. Paul is coming off a TKO win against Mike Perry in Tampa last month and is preparing to fight former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in November in Arlington, Texas.

While the press conference kickstarts a busy weekend in MMA, check out the current bout order for Friday's event below the live stream link.

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PFL Washington D.C. Early Card (6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT) on ESPN+

• Welterweight Bout: Ray Cooper III  (25-10-1) vs. Mukhamed Berkhamov (16-2) 
• Welterweight Alternate Bout: Eric Alequin (7-1) vs. Luca Poclit (10-2) 
• Featherweight Alternate Bout: Tyler Diamond (14-3) vs. Enrique Barzola (20-9-2)
• Featherweight Bout: Jesse Stirn (16-6) vs. Jose Perez (8-1)
• Heavyweight Bout: Maxwell Djantou Nana (5-1) vs. Kent Mafileo (6-1, 1 NC)  
• Welterweight Bout: Shido Boris Esperanca (8-1) vs. Tyler Hill (12-8)

PFL Washington D.C. Main Card (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT) on ESPN/ESPN+

• Featherweight Playoffs Main Event: Brendan Loughnane (29-5) vs. Kai Kamaka (14-5-1) 
• Welterweight Playoffs Co-Main Event: Magomed Umalatov (16-0) vs. Neiman Gracie (13-5)
• Featherweight Playoffs Main Card Bout: Gabriel Braga (14-1) vs. Timur Khizriev (16-0) 
• Welterweight Playoffs Main Card Bout: Shamil Musaev (18-0-1) vs. Murad Ramazanov (12-1)

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Stay locked into MMAKO, as we will provide you with fight night coverage of all the festivities.

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