Francis Ngannou is confident his next fight will send a message to MMA fans.
When Ngannou steps into the PFL SmartCage on Oct. 19 to fight 2023 heavyweight tournament champion Renan Ferreira, it marks Ngannou’s first MMA fight since January 2022. Since that time, Ngannou vacated the UFC heavyweight title, parted ways with that promotion to sign with PFL, and competed in two high-profile boxing matches against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
Should Ngannou be victorious in October, where does he expect to land in the heavyweight rankings?
“Rankings are made by people and then here the sport is moving,” Ngannou told Sky Sports Boxing. “I’m not the one to judge, but yeah, I think this fight could set as a reminder for who I am.”
Ngannou left UFC on a six-fight win streak, capped off by a successful title defense over Ciryl Gane. He officially signed with PFL in May 2023, with the expectation that he’d not only compete for the league, but also serve as a board member for its PFL Africa expansion.
Personal tragedy has also kept Ngannou on the sidelines, as he and his family continue to mourn the death of his infant son this past April. He enters his MMA comeback fight with a heavy heart, but also with the knowledge that he is back on familiar territory.
“I got back training into mixed martial arts, like, a month and a half ago,” Ngannou said when asked how much MMA training he’s done since his most recent cage-fight. “It feels good. Mixed martial arts is the most familiar sport for me, I’m kind of used to it. The muscle memories are always there. You get there and then you just feel like you never missed it, you never left, you never missed a day of training.
“It’s home. I’ve been doing mixed martial arts for over 10 years, so yes, it’s home. It’s home. It’s where I’m more comfortable, what I’m used to, what I understand the most.”
There was much discussion about who would be Ngannou’s first PFL opponent. It wasn’t until Ferreira ran through the 2023 field — including former two-division Bellator champion Ryan Bader — that the spot was filled.
Standing an impressive 6-foot-8, Ferreira cuts an imposing figure, and he has backed up the hype with a recent string of first-round knockouts. Ngannou is taking “Problema” as seriously as he has any of his previous challenges.
“Every fighter is unique in his type and everybody has something,” Ngannou said. “Basically, fighters that you haven’t fought yet, those are always the most difficult ones. When you think about fighting, the ones you have fought already, seems like an OK fight, seems like he was obvious, but before the fight it’s quite different.
“As for right now, in my mind, the most difficult one is Renan Ferreira because in terms of style, I think he might be more like Ciryl Gane style. Moving fast and all that stuff. Or even better because he has long, long range and he knows how to use it, very fast hands. So he’s different, he’s unique as an opponent, as every opponent is unique. After him, it’s going to be another person, and that person for that time will be the most difficult opponent for you mentally to face until you fight them.”
A major factor in Ngannou making the move from UFC to PFL was the league allowing him to negotiate boxing matches. This contract flexibility immediately bore fruit for Ngannou as he was able to book his pair of lucrative boxing matches with Fury and Joshua. Though neither bout went Ngannou’s way — the fight with Fury ending a gut-wrenching split loss — Ngannou made himself a bankable name in the ring.
Once he’s through with Ferreira, Ngannou expects to open the door to boxing again.
“I definitely have a return in boxing,” Ngannou said. “This is not all. Nothing that we can talk about now, because my next fight is MMA and usually you don’t make any plans ahead of an MMA fight because everything can happen in an MMA fight. You can get [an] injury or whatever can happen in an MMA fight. So not until then will I make a plan or discussion about boxing.”
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