Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira squared off in a Heavyweight contest earlier tonight (Sat. Oct. 19, 2024) from Mayadeen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. As expected, this one didn’t last long!
Ngannou opened the fight with a pair of heavy low kicks that turned Ferreira out of his stance. Both men just miss on an early pair of massive swings, and Ferreira scores with his own low kick. Ngannou runs over Ferreira with a well-timed double leg takedown. Ferreira surprised his foe with a triangle choke, but “The Predator” postured out and restablished control from top half-guard. Finally, Ngannou let loose with a stream of punches, forcing Ferreira to turtle. Stuck beneath Ngannou, Ferreira was trapped in place when the former UFC Heavyweight champion unleashed a flurry of brutal haymakers.
As punch after punch landed to the side of the head/guard of Ferreira, the Brazilian was absolutely stuck. He couldn’t move, and his consciousness slowly escaped him under the hail of heavy blows.
The referee soon saved him.
It’s an incredible moment for Ngannou given all the trials and tribulations in his life and the boxing ring. This performance felt like such a statement as well. Faced with a tremendously heavy hitter and rare size disadvantage, Ngannou showed off his MMA skill with the low kicks, head movement, and double leg takedown.
Then, he unleashed that ungodly power to immediately devastating results. It’s a shame we’ll never see him fight Jon Jones or Tom Aspinall, but Francis Ngannou remains as good as any Heavyweight in the world.
Result: Francis Ngannou defeats Renan Ferreira via first-round knockout
For complete PFL: ‘Battle of the Giants’ results and play-by-play, click HERE!