It’s as if Francis Ngannou never left.
The MMA world saw the in-cage return of “The Predator” at PFL Battle of the Giants this past Saturday. It had been nearly three years since Ngannou successfully defended his UFC heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane, his last MMA fight. In his PFL debut, Ngannou smashed his way to another victory with a vicious ground-and-pound knockout of Renan Ferreira in round one.
A lot happened for Ngannou between his January 2022 bout against Gane and now. He recovered from knee surgery, relinquished his title, left the UFC, signed with the PFL, started his pro boxing career, lost his two matches, and worst of all, lost his son.
Although the boxing losses were a lot to handle, the loss outside of combat understandably had Ngannou most in mental disarray.
“It wasn’t about doubts, more so about me questioning myself,” Ngannou said of his emotions ahead of the Ferreira fight on Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “At the end of the day, the fight is a fight, and it can always go either way. I know I was prepared enough in case I have the opportunity. But again, you don’t, you never know what truly will happen in the fight. So it wasn’t like doubt, but I was about to really discover how I can feel there in that cage, stepping the foot inside, knowing that it’s no longer the same. I’m no longer the same person anymore.
“I think you just have to remember the reason why you’re doing it. And I think this time around, I had the better motivation, the better reason that I never had before for this fight. The purpose, the reason why I was fighting was bigger than anything that I’ve ever fought for.”
The fight was anticlimactic in the sense of fight length. Ultimately, Ngannou performed as well as ever, only taking damage from a pair of early leg kicks. Tired and emotionally exhausted, Ngannou said Monday that, physically, he’s in good condition.
Not only was the fight a return to MMA for “The Predator,” it was also Ngannou’s return to Saudi Arabia, where his fighting career has taken place since he left the UFC. His boxing debut against Tyson Fury was an overall win despite an official split decision loss on the judges’ scorecards. However, Ngannou’s sophomore appearance against Anthony Joshua was a devastating second-round knockout loss.
Ngannou, 38, was open about the pre-fight circumstances ahead of that match. Less than ideal, according to the Cameroonian. But everything was good this time around in Riyadh. Although he shifted his focus from grappling training to boxing, quickly getting the fight to the ground was no problem for Ngannou.
“So early, no,” Ngannou answered when asked about his plan to wrestle. “Whenever the opportunity comes was the plan. Even though he has a good ground game, what I do know for sure is that he doesn’t have a good reverse, great wrestling. So if we get on the ground, I’m on top, I will manage. I will give him a rough time.
“One thing that was part of the takedown was the timing. He has his right hand, which is like almost automatic. So you just need to press the trigger to let that right hand go, and then have a good timing to do whatever you do that can be efficient. As soon as I had him back on the cage, trapped on the cage, I knew that right hand was coming.”
Outside of a brief triangle choke attempt, Ferreira offered no resistance to his large counterpart on the mats. What looked like an arguably late stoppage from referee Dan Miragliotta had fans concerned for the PFL champion. Ngannou felt the same at the moment, but felt it was fine after a rewatch.
Ngannou making it to the cage to compete again is impressive by itself. If he had never fought after the loss of his son Kobe, the world would have understood. He knows he can carry on professionally, proving it to this new version of himself.
“I think so,” Ngannou responded when asked if he wanted to keep fighting. “Along the way, I took this fight so early, I thought maybe it wasn’t time for me yet to start fighting. But the question is when will be the exact time? And I feel like the right time will never be there. I think it’s just something that you have to roll with because I don’t think if we wait for years, two years, five years from now, I don’t really think like things will be different. So then, therefore I will not be having time to fight again. Maybe the only thing that I will have would be regret.
“It wasn’t about winning or losing. I could have lost and decide to keep fighting, because, again, it’s just the reason why I’m thinking … do what I had the opportunity to and don’t have to regret later.”
Ngannou now finds himself in a familiar place he’s been these past three years, wondering what makes sense for his next move.
“Absolutely,” Ngannou said when asked if he’ll box again.
It takes two to tango and “The Predator” may have better options for big-name opposition back in the ring.
“It could be either one. I don’t know yet,” Ngannou said of MMA or boxing. “I don’t have a hand on that one. I don’t have a decision. I think it also depends on the promotion. It depends. I don’t know if PFL will come up with something or a fight. Maybe we will work on it. Then, if it’s boxing, same thing.
“I don’t really have a preference. I just think it’s going to be next year. Maybe second quarter.”
In the PFL, Ferreira was as big of an opponent as it could offer — literally and figuratively. Ferreira, 34, won the 2023 heavyweight tournament before he starched longtime Bellator champion Ryan Bader in February. The latter earned him the chance at “The Predator.”
Before we roll over to 2025, Denis Goltsov and Oleg Popov are set to fight to determine PFL’s 2024 tournament champion. Ngannou also revealed a past PFL champion, Ante Delija, was the backup for his Ferreira fight, making Delija a possibility as an opponent as well.
In the best of best-case scenarios, MMA can do something that it hasn’t done at the highest level in roughly 20 years, when UFC and PRIDE FC worked together. A cross-promotion spectacle to put together the fight we thought we’d get before Ngannou left his last fighting home: Undisputed UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
“Bones” had nothing but praise for Ngannou, taking to social media to congratulate the “amazing job” in Ngannou’s latest victory.
“Whatever it means, I think it’s class,” Ngannou said of Jones’ comments. “He said it in a very nice way. So, I see him too, and I will be watching him on Nov. 16.
“There’s a chance [we could fight]. I can’t tell on the level of one to 10, I can’t tell how many, but I know there’s a chance. I mean, basically, I know that fight also interests [Saudi Arabia chairman of the general entertainment authority] Turki [Alalshikh], and not many things interest him.”
Ngannou added that conversations about the superfight’s creation weren’t discussed that night with Alalshikh. As reluctant and dismissive as UFC CEO Dana White has been about all things Ngannou and PFL since the relationship dissolved, it would certainly take someone like Alalshikh to make that matchup a reality.
First, Jones has at least one other challenger to get through until then. (Sorry, Tom Aspinall; you know it’s not looking good.) Jones returns to defend his UFC title against Ngannou’s former rival Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 next month. When told by a social media user that he’d get smoked by Ngannou in reply to his praise, Jones responded, “Sure, everyone beats me up until they’re in there with me.”
Ngannou again wasn’t bothered by the comments.
“I mean, that’s true. Everyone has to believe,” Ngannou said. “Everyone that steps in the Octagon has believed that he’s going to beat his opponent. Even Renan Ferreira, he beat me up until we stepped in the Octagon. So, it’s like that. I don’t think that has nothing that wasn’t directed to me.
“Knowing Jon Jones, I think that he was also very classy in that response. It didn’t sound like he was mad.”
A lot of finger-pointing happened between Ngannou, Jones and the UFC when the parties went their separate ways.
The pair of heavyweights went face-to-face in the crowd at a PFL event in June 2023. Unfortunately, that’s probably the closest we’ll get to the fight, but Ngannou still believes “Bones” is interested despite their circumstances.
“Regardless of what the game that being played out there, I know the truth,” Ngannou said. “I’ve been behind the scenes so many times, so I know exactly what happened.
“Even though Jon doesn’t stand the idea of losing, he’s going home like, ‘OK, let’s take it. Let’s do the last dance. If this is this.’ I truly think he does. I can’t tell for sure, but I believe.”
No matter what Ngannou does next in MMA, he’ll further make a case toward becoming the greatest heavyweight of all time should he rack up the wins. As great as that accomplishment would be to cement, it’s far from something he’s concerned about.
“As far as I’m concerned, I have something to fight for that’s [not] the best heavyweight or whatever is that,” Ngannou said. “It doesn’t mean that much. I’m just here to do my best, man. To give the best of myself. Whoever is the greatest at the end of the day is OK, but I think I’m not doing bad.”
