22 February 2024 , 18:50
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Francis Ngannou will fight either Renan Ferreira or Ryan Bader on his MMA return after announcing the bout just two weeks before his boxing fight against Anthony Joshua.
Ngannou vacated his UFC heavyweight title last January and split with the promotion in order to pursue a career in boxing. The Cameroonian signed with rival MMA promotion PFL just months later and he will now fight the winner of Ferreira and Bader’s title clash later this year.
Ferreira and Bader are fighting at the PFL vs Bellator World Championship event this Saturday at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - the same venue which will host Ngannou’s showdown with Joshua on March 8. Ngannou will be in attendance for Ferreira and Bader’s fight and could face-off in the SmartCage with the winner.
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“The PFL is excited to announce Francis Ngannou’s return to MMA in the PFL pay-per-view division will be against the winner of the PFL Champion vs Bellator Champion heavyweight superfight between Renan Ferreira and Ryan Bader,” PFL CEO Peter Murray said.
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"Francis is a true combat sports icon with a global fan base and appeal. We, along with the rest of the MMA world, will be watching to see who his first opponent will be, Ferreira or Bader.” Ngannou was cageside for Ferreira’s knockout win against Maurice Greene last year as the Brazilian went on to capture the promotion’s heavyweight title and $1million prize.
Bader makes his PFL debut against Ferreira as Saturday marks the promotion's first event since acquiring Bellator last November. Ngannou admitted he’s been paying close attention to Ferreira for a while and that fight intrigues him more than a match-up against Bellator champion Bader.
“I think out of those two, Renan Ferreira is the upcoming thing in the heavyweight division. I’ve been saying that for a year now. Even before the beginning of the PFL season, I knew this guy had something but I saw some clips of him. He has something quite special as far as speed and accuracy go. I can tell that he is somebody who is going to propose a lot of challenges in the future,” he told Mirror Fighting.