Francis Ngannou to Make PFL Debut in Heavyweight Title Fight vs. Renan Ferreira

The Professional Fighters League announced Wednesday that Francis Ngannou will make his promotional debut against PFL heavyweight champion Renan Ferreira on Oct. 19.

Ngannou vs. Ferreira will headline the pay-per-view on ESPN+, while Cris Cyborg will face Larissa Pacheco in the co-main event.

Although Ngannou signed with PFL in May 2023, he has not competed in an MMA bout since his final fight with UFC in January 2022.

The 37-year-old Ngannou made his UFC debut in 2015 and went on to become one of the best heavyweights in the history of the promotion.

After losing back-to-back fights to Stipe Miocic and Derrick Lewis in 2018, Ngannou won each of his final six UFC bouts, including beating Miocic for the UFC heavyweight title in 2021.

Ngannou's final UFC fight was a win over Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 in January 2022. That bout marked the end of Ngannou's contract, and when he and UFC could not come to terms on a new deal, he vacated the heavyweight title.

Rather than jumping right back into the cage, Ngannou tried his hand at boxing following his UFC departure.

In his first professional boxing match, Ngannou pushed Tyson Fury to the limit, losing by split decision in somewhat controversial fashion.

At the time, Fury was undefeated and was the reigning WBC world heavyweight champion, although he went on to lose to Oleksandr Usyk in a unification bout in May.

Given the success of his first fight, Ngannou boxed again, taking on former world heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua. That outing was nowhere near as competitive, as Joshua beat Ngannou by second-round knockout.

Ngannou will be in a more comfortable and familiar environment in PFL, and he will have an opportunity to make a massive impact in his first PFL bout.

Ferreira, 34, is a 6'8" heavyweight from Brazil who beat Denis Goltsov in the PFL heavyweight title tournament final last year. He followed that up with a win over Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader in just 21 seconds in February.

All told, Ferreira is 13-3 with 11 wins by way of knockout during his career, whereas Ngannou is 17-3 with 12 knockouts.