Professional Fighters League (PFL) staged one of its biggest events ever this past weekend (Sat., Oct. 19, 2024), as the “Battle of the Giants” pay-per-view (PPV) extravaganza went down in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Much of the intrigue for the event was due to the fact that former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou, was making his debut opposite 265-pound king, Renan Ferreira, for the “Super Fight” title more than one year after inking a deal with the promotion. When it was all said and done, “The Predator” — who was coming off back-to-back losses in boxing — made quick work of “Problema” by knocking him out in less than four minutes to push his MMA win streak to seven straight (highlights here).
The event — which also featured the promotional debut of Cris Cyborg, who defeated women’s Featherweight champion, Larissa Pacheco — wound up being a massive success. That’s according to PFL founder, Donn Davis, who shared various audience metrics on X proving as much.
Rare in sports for excellence on global scale – we did it with PFL Super Fight: Battle of the Giants
Massive worldwide audience metrics
Thanks @PFLMMA Fans! #PFLMMA #PFLSuperFights pic.twitter.com/i9gkBv2LI3
— Donn Davis (@DonnDavisPFL) October 23, 2024
Prior to the event Davis proclaimed that “Battle of the Giants” would be bigger than UFC 306 at The Sphere, which was a feast for the eyes dubbed a “love letter to Mexican people” by company CEO, Dana White.
Whether or not these impressive audience metrics equated into PPV buys — it cost $49.99 — is unknown.
The event also featured a Bellator MMA Middleweight championship rematch that saw Johnny Eblen dominate Fabian Edwards a second time to retain his title. In the opening fight of the main card, Paul Hughes pulled off a huge upset by defeating former Featherweight champion, A.J. McKee, via unanimous decision in his PFL debut. Still, the main attraction was Ngannou, who proved that he still has the draw power in MMA to even entice Jon Jones into watching and give him props.
The promotion will return to Riyadh next month to stage the 2024 Championships which will feature six title fights, with the winner of each bout not only getting crowned champion, but also receiving a $1 million payday. One of those championship fights will be at Heavyweight, as Denis Goltsov will face Oleg Popov to see who will possibly be getting a shot at “The Predator” next.
To checkout the latest and greatest news and notes for “Ngannou vs. Ferreira” be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.