THE Baddest Man on the Planet returns to the cage on Saturday night as Francis Ngannou ends a two-and-a-half-year MMA exile amongst the familiar surroundings of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The former UFC kingpin left that championship belt inside the Octagon in 2022 to pursue a life-long desire to compete in a boxing ring.
And whilst his first foray, dropping an extending Tyson Fury the distance in 2023 was a huge success, last year’s second round KO defeat to Anthony Joshua closed that chapter.
Now back in mixed martial arts, 38-year-old Ngannou has joined up with the Professional Fighters League (PFL) and will make his debut challenging for their heavyweight crown.
But the PFL’s current champion, Renan Ferreira, poses a real physical threat in the Kingdom.
PROBLEMA
Standing six-foot-eight and weighing 265lb, the Brazilian behemoth boasts an 85” reach and is one of the few fighting men on the planet capable of casting big Francis in his shadow.
But what the 34-year-old gains in size he lacks in experience.
The biggest name on Ferreira’s record is another former UFC champ, Fabricio Werdum, but that KO from 2021 was overturned after replays showed Ferreira had already tapped from a choke.
‘Problema’s 13-3-3 record includes a 16-month, four-fight unbeaten run that saw him capture the PFL crown last November and add the Bellator belt in February.
During Ngannou sabbatical, he’s climbed above the rest to stand alone as the leading heavyweight off of the UFC roster.
PREDATOR
Since quitting the Octagon, Ngannou has witnessed his personal brand grow exponentially.
The move to boxing has proven incredibly lucrative and made him a crossover star. But competing outside of the sport’s premier promotion has its challenges.
Ngannou can still lay claim to the title of being the best heavyweight in MMA, after all he surrendered the UFC crown and as such should be considered the lineal champion.
But with the belt’s new owner, Jon Jones, facing the UFC’s most successful heavyweight Stipe Miocic in New York next, plus the UK’s Tom Aspinall is riding high with an Interim belt, Ngannou’s claims grow weaker by the day.
Nothing short of a sensational, viral-moment finish is required this weekend to remind fight fans who the Baddest Man on the Planet truly still is.
RIYADH OR BUST
Ngannou hasn’t had much luck in Riyadh so far. Deprived by the judges against Fury, obliterated by a razor-sharp AJ last October, this has to be the moment he gets his fighting life back on track.
Of their 30 combined career wins they’ve only been to the judge’s scorecards once a piece, sharing 23 knockouts and five submissions between them.
But there is a huge difference in class between stopping a blown-up Ryan Bader and collecting the scalps of four former UFC champions as Ngannou did on his rise to the top.
Ferreira may be the defending champion, but make no mistake this is Ngannou’s coming out party as the new face of the PFL. The finish, when it comes, will be savage and swift.
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