Tag: Battle Of The Giants

Francis Ngannou Teases Surprise Finish In MMA Return: ‘Been Working On Some Tricks…’

In his return to mixed martial arts this weekend, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou could be set to show new wrinkles in his game. Saturday marks a big night for “The Predator,” as he enters the cage for an MMA fight for the first time since a successful UFC title defense against Ciryl Gane […]

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In his return to mixed martial arts this weekend, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou could be set to show new wrinkles in his game.

Saturday marks a big night for “The Predator,” as he enters the cage for an MMA fight for the first time since a successful UFC title defense against Ciryl Gane back in January 2022.

After departing MMA’s leading promotion and completing two bouts in the ring opposite boxing stars Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, Ngannou will put his sights back on the sport in which he made his name to make a long-awaited PFL debut.

The Cameroonian is slated to headline the upcoming pay-per-view in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia against 2023 PFL heavyweight champ Renan Ferreira. Given the Brazilian’s penchant for knockouts, which is more than shared by “The Predator,” most are expecting Ngannou’s return to the cage to conclude with a knockout.

But during an appearance on Monday’s episode of The Ariel Helwani Show on Uncrowned, the ex-UFC champ suggested that is far from certain, with both a decision and a surprise submission on the table.

When it comes to the latter of those endings, the 38-year-old Batié native said he could have some “tricks” up his sleeve come fight night.

“He moves a lot and he has good grappling. I mean, he is a black belt,” Ngannou said. “Unless the fight goes longer — if the fight goes past two rounds, I think it’s likely going to end up (being) a decision. Otherwise, if it stays inside two rounds, I think it’s a knockout or why not a submission?

“You know, I’m not a black belt, but I’m not bad too,” Ngannou continued. “I’ve been working on some little tricks.”

Be it a KO, submission or hard-fought victory on the scorecards, Ngannou will hope to emerge from the Middle East with a better result than in his last trip to Riyadh, which saw him rendered unconscious by “AJ.”

Continue Reading Francis Ngannou Teases Surprise Finish In MMA Return: ‘Been Working On Some Tricks…’ at MMA News.

PFL CEO Says Battle Of The Giants Card Exceeds UFC 300 & UFC 306 As Biggest Event Of The Year

Undoubtedly the biggest MMA event of the weekend sees the PFL host the most significant night in the history of the promotion to date. Battle Of The Giants sees the promotion’s biggest ever signing, the former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, make his long awaited debut. His fight with Renan Ferreira is the real draw […]

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Undoubtedly the biggest MMA event of the weekend sees the PFL host the most significant night in the history of the promotion to date. Battle Of The Giants sees the promotion’s biggest ever signing, the former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, make his long awaited debut.

His fight with Renan Ferreira is the real draw here because fans have waited a long time to see “The Predator” step back into MMA following his recent boxing contests. That being said, there’s other fights on this card that make it the PFL’s best event to date.

The main card in particular features several homerun match-ups from the promotion that really shows the strength of the roster and how much it has improved since the Bellator acquisition.

As they prepare for a massive night of fights in Riyadh, PFL CEO Peter Murray spoke about the card in a recent interview with MMA Junkie. In his opinion, Saturday’s event is the clear winner for the biggest and baddest event of 2024 in the MMA world.

He specifically referenced how it stacks up when you compare this weekend’s card to the likes of UFC 300 and UFC 306 which would also be in the same conversation. There was criticism from some fans of both of those events for not having the kinds of cards that would live up to the high expectations on paper.

In hindsight, it’s fair to say that both produced pretty special nights this year, even if some of the big fights at UFC 306 weren’t the most entertaining. Regardless, Murray believes that Battle Of The Giants stands tall not only next to any PFL event, but any MMA event that has taken place this year.

“This is the biggest event of absolutely the PFL company history and the biggest event of the year and, you know, I’m looking forward to stacking this up against, when you look at the cards from UFC 300, The Sphere, but like as it relates to the card, this fight, this event on October 19, biggest of the year, second to none.”

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PFL Founder Anticipates UFC Attempt To Stifle Ngannou’s Return: ‘What Will Dana White Announce?’

Francis Ngannou makes his PFL debut this weekend, and the promotion is expecting his ex-employers to do what they can to steal the spotlight. For the first time since January 2022, Ngannou will enter the cage for an MMA contest on Saturday, October 19. In his last appearance close to three years ago, “The Predator” […]

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Francis Ngannou makes his PFL debut this weekend, and the promotion is expecting his ex-employers to do what they can to steal the spotlight.

For the first time since January 2022, Ngannou will enter the cage for an MMA contest on Saturday, October 19. In his last appearance close to three years ago, “The Predator” got the better of Ciryl Gane to remain UFC heavyweight champion.

On this occasion, the Cameroonian will debut in new surroundings as the headline act for the Professional Fighters League’s second pay-per-view event of 2024.

After completing his long-desired transition to boxing to do battle with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, the former UFC champ will adjust his sights back to MMA to face 2022 PFL title winner Renan Ferreira in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

And as his first MMA fight week since departing the UFC gets underway, the PFL higher-ups are seemingly expecting some outside efforts to drag the spotlight away from Ngannou…

Davis Predicts White Announcement In Light Of Ngannou’s PFL Fight Week

PFL founder, chairman, and co-owner Donn Davis has caused a stir in recent times owing to repeated shots at his organization’s former fighter, two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison.

To kick off the PFL’s ‘Battle of the Giants’ fight week, Davis once again had his sights on a UFC figure, this time the boss.

In a social media post, Davis suggested the UFC CEO will no doubt be preparing a major announcement in the hope of stifling Ngannou’s return — a habit of the UFC’s that has become a running joke in the MMA community.

“PFL Super Fight Week! Francis Ngannou makes his highly anticipated return with @PFLMMA!” Davis wrote on X. “So what will @danawhite announce to try to steal spotlight from THE biggest fight of 2024?? #PFLSuperFights“

It would stand to reason that no announcement could affect the anticipation for Ngannou’s return, which comes after he took Fury to the limit and suffered a brutal KO to Joshua in the squared circle.

Ngannou vs. Ferreira headlines Saturday’s card, with the likes of women’s MMA legend Cris Cyborg, reigning Bellator middleweight kingpin Johnny Eblen, and former Bellator champion AJ McKee making up the undercard.

Continue Reading PFL Founder Anticipates UFC Attempt To Stifle Ngannou’s Return: ‘What Will Dana White Announce?’ at MMA News.

PFL Announces Full Card For ‘Battle Of The Giants’ PPV Headlined By Francis Ngannou

The PFL has announced the full card for “Battle of the Giants”, the promotion’s huge event in Riyadh on October 19. We already knew about four fights, which regardless of the rest of the card, were going to make this one of the biggest nights in the history of the promotion. Between Francis Ngannou’s MMA […]

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The PFL has announced the full card for “Battle of the Giants”, the promotion’s huge event in Riyadh on October 19.

We already knew about four fights, which regardless of the rest of the card, were going to make this one of the biggest nights in the history of the promotion.

Between Francis Ngannou’s MMA return against Renan Ferreira, Cris Cyborg vs Larissa Pacheco, the Bellator middleweight title rematch between Johnny Eblen and Fabian Edwards plus a fantastic lightweight bout with AJ McKee taking on Paul Hughes, this card was certainly PPV worthy.

We now know the remaining six bouts that will fill up the rest of the evening and though they’re still noteworthy, they don’t quite match up in box office value compared to the big four that were previously announced.

Rounding out the main card is a featherweight clash between Switzerland’s Husein Kadimagomaev and Germany’s Zafar Mohsen.

The most notable name to be added is Raufeon Stots, who will be fighting in the featured prelim against Marcos Breno.

This will be Stots’ first fight of the year following his victory over Danny Sabatello in November last year at Bellator 301.

See the full card for “Battle of the Giants: Brace for Impact” listed below:

Main card:

Heavyweight Main Event: Francis Ngannou (17-3) vs. Renan Ferreira (13-3, 3 NC) 
Women’s Featherweight Co-Main Event: Cris “Cyborg” (27-2, 1 NC) vs. Larissa Pacheco (23-4)
Bellator Middleweight World Title Bout: Johnny Eblen (15-0) vs. Fabian Edwards (13-3)
Featherweight Main Card Bout: Husein Kadimagomaev (11-1, 1 NC) vs Zafar Mohsen (13-4)
Lightweight Main Card Bout: AJ McKee (22-1) vs. Paul Hughes (12-1)

    Early Card:

    Bantamweight Early Card Bout: Raufeon Stots (20-2) vs Marcos Breno (15-3)
    Lightweight Early Card Bout: Makkasharip Zaynukov (15-4) vs Dedrek Sanders (9-4)
    Featherweight Early Card Bout: Ibragim Ibragimov (7-0) vs Nacho Campos (5-0)
    Middleweight Early Card Bout: Mostafa Nada (9-3) vs Ahmed Sami (11-4-0, 1 NC) 
    Featherweight Early Card Bout: Youssef Al Housani (4-1) vs Taha Bendaoud (3-0)

    Read also: Muhammad Mokaev Claims His Pay Is Three Times Higher After UFC Release

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    Johnny Eblen vs. Fabian Edwards 2 Rescheduled For PFL’s Battle Of The Giants

    A huge rematch in Bellator’s middleweight division has been announced as the latest addition to the PFL’s Battle Of The Giants event on October 19. 185-pound champion Johnny Eblen was set to defend his title for a third time in a rematch with Fabian Edwards in London this past weekend. Unfortunately, the bout fell off […]

    Continue Reading Johnny Eblen vs. Fabian Edwards 2 Rescheduled For PFL’s Battle Of The Giants at MMA News.

    A huge rematch in Bellator’s middleweight division has been announced as the latest addition to the PFL’s Battle Of The Giants event on October 19.

    185-pound champion Johnny Eblen was set to defend his title for a third time in a rematch with Fabian Edwards in London this past weekend.

    Unfortunately, the bout fell off the card with no reason being given, meaning that the latest instalment of the Bellator Champions Series went down without a title fight headliner.

    The two men previously met back at Bellator 299 in September last year where Eblen retained the gold via a third round stoppage in Dublin, Ireland.

    A win over Aaron Jeffery put Edwards back in the title picture for another chance to bring the Bellator belt back to Birmingham, England.

    Eblen, on the other hand, remained undefeated in a tough fight with Impa Kasanganay earlier this year at the PFL vs. Bellator event in February.

    As per the official press release, the fight will now take place at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh on the same night as Francis Ngannou’s long awaited return to MMA.

    He takes on PFL’s 2023 heavyweight champion Renan Ferreira with Cris Cyborg and Larissa Pacheco serving as the co-main event for the debut of the PFL’s PPV Super Fights division.

    Also announced for the card is Bellator star A.J. McKee, who takes on one of the PFL’s most exciting additions in recent times, Irish prospect Paul Hughes who will be facing his toughest test to date.

    Read also: Brendan Schaub On UFC Show At ‘Rainforest Cafe’ Sphere: ‘Looks Great But The Product Is Sh*t’

    Continue Reading Johnny Eblen vs. Fabian Edwards 2 Rescheduled For PFL’s Battle Of The Giants at MMA News.

    VIDEO: Israel Adesanya Pumped Up While Live Reacting To Francis Ngannou’s Dominant MMA Return

    Former two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya was ecstatic to see Francis Ngannou make a winning return to mixed martial arts. Adesanya was among the keen viewers tuning in for this past weekend’s PFL pay-per-view in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which was headlined by Ngannou’s first taste of MMA action since January 2022. Back then, “The […]

    Continue Reading VIDEO: Israel Adesanya Pumped Up While Live Reacting To Francis Ngannou’s Dominant MMA Return at MMA News.

    Former two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya was ecstatic to see Francis Ngannou make a winning return to mixed martial arts.

    Adesanya was among the keen viewers tuning in for this past weekend’s PFL pay-per-view in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which was headlined by Ngannou’s first taste of MMA action since January 2022.

    Back then, “The Predator” held the UFC heavyweight belt and successfully stalled the title ambitions of Ciryl Gane. On Oct. 19, he captured PFL gold at the expense of Renan Ferreira, whom he brutally pummeled into unconsciousness in under four minutes.

    During a video recently uploaded to his FREESTYLEBENDER YouTube channel, Adesanya reacted to his friend and fellow African standout’s long-awaited MMA comeback and SmartCage debut.

    “The Last Stylebender” was visibly pumped up during the finishing sequence, which saw referee Dan Miragliotta come under criticism for what many deemed to have been an egregiously late stoppage.

    Adesanya later became emotional as the victorious Ngannou teared up post-fight while dedicating the victory to his late son, Kobe.

    “Let’s go, brother,” Adesanya said, before recapping Ngannou’s win. “Flawless. That was a beautiful performance. He took one leg kick, dodged the flurry, and eventually timed his right hand, shot for a double, kept him there and knocked him out.

    “Proud, inspired, and just happy to watch him do his thing,” Adesanya continued. He’s gone through so much in his career — even still. After the whole boxing thing, people were doubting him. … They forget who this man is. … I’m glad he reminded everybody why he’s the best, why he’s the one, why he’s Francis Ngannou.”

    It remains to be seen what will come next in the career of Ngannou, and whether his sights will remain on the cage or return to the ring following a two-fight boxing stint across the past year.

    But with talk of dream showdowns with the likes of Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall rising back to the surface following this past weekend’s result, it would appear that plenty have strong interest in “The Predator’s” MMA exploits moving forward.

    Continue Reading VIDEO: Israel Adesanya Pumped Up While Live Reacting To Francis Ngannou’s Dominant MMA Return at MMA News.