Francis Ngannou finally has an opponent.
āThe Predatorā will make his SmartCage debut against the winner of Ryan Bader vs. Renan Ferreira, who collide atop the āPFL vs. Bellatorā pay-per-view (PPV) event this weekend in Riyadh. The winner will exit Saudia Arabia as the promotionās heavyweight champion.
Along with a shiny new belt.
āThe PFL is excited to announce Francis Ngannouās return to MMA in the PFL PPV Division will be against the winner of the PFL Champion vs Bellator Champion Heavyweight Superfight between Renan Ferreira and Ryan Bader,ā said Peter Murray, PFL CEO.ā 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.ā
A date and location for Ngannouās PFL debut have yet to be revealed.
Nice in theory Renan vs Bader should have a lot of extra motivation now because they will be fighting for the 7 figure opponent purse Francis was campaigning for in their next fight should they win.
Always good to see Francis fight anywhere but it is especially cool that he did that.
So happy for Francis man! He is doing what most athletes donāt ever doā¦ heās taking full advantage of his own prime years and utilizing it to his full potential.
PFL HW division is shit. If one of these guys beats Ngannou they might as well fold up shop. It is better if they have Ngannou fight both in the same night.
Even better at the same time
Iām guessing thatāll be in Africa? Unfortunately there wonāt be a lot of legitimate competition for Ngannou outside the UFC. If he beats Joshua this will sell better than a lot of UFC PPVs though.
I could see PFL beating UFC to Africa or specifically South Africa in a one upmanship
Casuals wonāt know who Bader or Renan are tho,
And it probably doesnāt even matter.
Worse case scenario for PFL is Bader blankets franny
The winner gets Ngannou.
Good for Francis, making that money in boxing and getting easier fights in MMA and making more than he did in UFC. Guy is winning at life regardless if he wins another fight.
Rly interesting how much less money ufc was offering him 