Tag: Ngannou

Francis Ngannou will face Renan Ferreira on his return to MMA on 19 October.

The Cameroonian heavyweight will make his promotional debut for the Professional Fighters League (PFL), having previously been a champion in the UFC.

On the undercard, long-time Bellator featherweight champion Cris Cyborg will face PFL two-weight champion Larissa Pacheco.

Winners of both contests will receive the PFL’s newly established “super-fights championship belt”.

Ngannou, 37, has spent the past year concentrating on boxing, with fights against former world champions Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.

Ngannou lost both bouts, suffering a second-round knockout to Joshua in March after a split-decision points loss to Fury.

Brazil’s Ferreira won the PFL’s 2023 heavyweight tournament and has been touted as Ngannou’s opponent since beating Bellator’s heavyweight champion Ryan Bader in February.

Ferreira, 34, has 13 wins, three losses and three no-contests on his MMA record.

Eleven of his 13 wins have come via knockout.

Read Also: Ngannou: PFL Africa will raise the bar in MMA

Ngannou has 17 victories in 20 MMA fights and his last win was a points decision over Frenchman Ciryl Gane in the UFC in January 2022.

He left the UFC at the end of his contract in 2023, citing a desire to switch to boxing.

Ngannou signed with the PFL last year and was named as the chairman of the PFL’s African league, which launches in 2025.

The PFL uses a league format in the United States, with British flyweight Dakota Ditcheva reaching the final of the 2024 tournament.

Ngannou’s fight against Ferreira will be a one-off, with the Brazilian deciding against entering the 2024 heavyweight tournament as he waited for a bout with Ngannou.

Mixed Martial Arts’   expert Dan Hardy has backed Francis Ngannou to  beat  Anthony Joshua because the Brit is easier to “rattle” than Tyson Fury.

Ngannou put his cage career on hold last year to make a stunning switch to boxing.

And in his ring debut, he astonishingly floored Fury, only to fall victim to a controversial points loss in Saudi Arabia.

But the disputed decision did not stop AJ coming to the table to agree another crossover clash for Ngannou, set for March 8 in Riyadh.

And ex-UFC star-turned pundit Hardy believes this is a more favourable match-up for the Cameroonian, who he expects to cause an upset.

“I picked Fury in the last one. I felt Fury was going to be able to catch him fifth or sixth round once he started to get tired. But this for me is a much better match-up for Ngannou.

“I feel like AJ’s easier to hit, easier to rattle psychologically and I feel like because of the unknown commodity of Francis Ngannou there’s going to be a shock to the system.”

Read Also: Promoter predicts Ngannou’s ‘massive upset’ against Joshua

Hardy knows Ngannou is not going to be the only heavy hitter in the ring but he believes the former UFC champion’s power will shock Joshua.

He said: “There’s an unquantifiable power about Ngannou and that’s concerning because he can punch through a decent guard.

“I feel like AJ’s going to feel punches coming through his guard and they’re going to surprise him a little bit.

“Because Ngannou will let them go and try and really hurt him. But they’ve both got to respect one another’s power.

“If Ngannou gets tired, he gets over-extended, he leaves himself open, AJ’s going to pick him apart and it could look like a very easy night for him.

“AJ knows how to land and deliver a punch. He’s very precise. He’s very powerful as we know,” he added.

Francis Ngannou can cause a “massive upset” by defeating Anthony Joshua in their heavyweight showdown in Saudi Arabia, according to veteran promoter Frank Warren.

British boxer Joshua heads into the March 8 fight looking to back-up his commanding stoppage-win over Sweden’s Otto Wallin in December as he continues his quest to become a three-time world champion.

But Warren believes Joshua will have his work cut out in a 10-round bout against the 37-year-old Cameroonian fighter Ngannou.

Best known as a mixed martial artist, Ngannou stunned many observers with an early knockdown of Tyson Fury, promoted by Warren, before suffering a controversial split-decision loss to the World Boxing Council heavyweight champion in October.

And Warren believes Ngannou’s punching power could pose problems for another British boxer in the 34-year-old Joshua when they meet in Riyadh.

Read Also: Joshua may fight Fury or Usyk after Ngannou

 “Joshua’s come into this after his last fight against Wallin,” Warren said . “He’ll be a big favourite going in, but I know that if he gets caught on the whiskers (chin) then this fella (Ngannou) could cause a massive upset because he can whack.

 “It’s going to be interesting to see how he takes the fight and to see if he fights on the outside or the inside. Ngannou’s game is getting on the inside. He’s a big man, he’s strong.”

Joshua’s victory over Wallin was his third win of 2023 but Warren said his two defeats by Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk, the man who deprived him of the World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation and  World Boxing Organisation belts, were proof of an enduring vulnerability.

“The two fights to Oleksandr Usyk, we can see what they are,” said Warren. “People have seen him (Joshua) wobble a few times in fights, that happens with him. I’m not saying there’s a confidence issue, but there wasn’t that when he was such an emphatic fighter.”

Fury and Usyk will clash for the undisputed heavyweight title in Saudi Arabia on February 17.

The winner will be crowned the heavyweight division’s first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis, who held all the major belts from 1999 to 2000.

Anthony Joshua will fight former UFC star Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia, says promoter Eddie Hearn.

Ngannou lost to Tyson Fury on his professional boxing debut in October.

Joshua, 34, was set to face Deontay Wilder after beating Otto Wallin, but the American’s loss to Joseph Parker scuppered plans for their big showdown.

Hearn posted “it’s a done deal” on X on Friday, and added: “Anthony Joshua v Francis Ngannou collide on a huge night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.”

A March 9 date has been mentioned, but Hearn said a press conference would be held in London on 15 January with more details about the fight “dropping soon”.

Cameroon-born Ngannou, 37, was ranked the number 10 heavyweight by the WBC after he almost stunned WBC heavyweight champion Fury, losing on a controversial split decision in their Saudi Arabia contest.

Read Also: Haaland parties with wife, Joshua in Dubai

Saudi organisers had already pencilled in a Joshua-Wilder bout for this year, but the 38-year-old Wilder’s defeat by New Zealander Parker on the same card as Briton Joshua’s win over Wallin meant a highly-anticipated mega-fight slipped away.

While no contract had been signed, the pair were expected to enter the ring post-fight and announce a deal to fight at some point in early 2024.

Meanwhile, Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will fight to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999 when they finally clash on 17 February in Saudi Arabia.

Briton Fury, 35, is the WBC champion, with Ukraine’s Usyk, 36, holding the WBA, WBO and IBF belts.

BBC