Renan Ferreira only needed 21 seconds to put away Bellator MMA heavyweight champion Ryan Bader. Coming out for the…
Renan Ferreira only needed 21 seconds to put away Bellator MMA heavyweight champion Ryan Bader.
Coming out for the final matchup of the PFL vs. Bellator card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ‘Darth’ looked to close the distance quickly, but paid the ultimate price when Ferreira uncorked a massive right hand that sent Bader crashing to the canvas. Ferreira swarmed his opponent, unleashing a flurry of ground-and-pound strikes that left the referee with no choice, but to step in and call for the stoppage in the opening minute.
Official Result:Renan Ferreira def. Ryan Bader via TKO (right hand to ground and pound) at 0:25 of Round 1.
With the victory, Ferreira with now face Francis Ngannou when the former UFC heavyweight world champion makes his debut in the PFL Smart Cage later this year.
Check Out Highlights From Renan Ferreira vs. Ryan Bader at PFL vs. Bellator:
Renan Ferreira only needed 21 seconds to put away Bellator MMA heavyweight champion Ryan Bader. Coming out for the…
Renan Ferreira only needed 21 seconds to put away Bellator MMA heavyweight champion Ryan Bader.
Coming out for the final matchup of the PFL vs. Bellator card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ‘Darth’ looked to close the distance quickly, but paid the ultimate price when Ferreira uncorked a massive right hand that sent Bader crashing to the canvas. Ferreira swarmed his opponent, unleashing a flurry of ground-and-pound strikes that left the referee with no choice, but to step in and call for the stoppage in the opening minute.
Official Result:Renan Ferreira def. Ryan Bader via TKO (right hand to ground and pound) at 0:25 of Round 1.
With the victory, Ferreira with now face Francis Ngannou when the former UFC heavyweight world champion makes his debut in the PFL Smart Cage later this year.
Check Out Highlights From Renan Ferreira vs. Ryan Bader at PFL vs. Bellator:
Former undisputed UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou is slated to make his first walk in mixed martial arts later…
Former undisputed UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou is slated to make his first walk in mixed martial arts later this year, as well as his first outing under the banner of the PFL (Professional Fighters League) since last year’s signing, with a bout against the victor of this weekend’s superfight between Ryan Bader and Renan Ferreira set to meet the Cameroonian.
Ngannou, a former undisputed heavyweight champion under the Dana White-led UFC banner, is also set to make his sophomore outing in the boxing ring next month in a return to the Middle East, taking on former two-time heavyweight titleholder, Anthony Joshua in the pair’s Saudi Arabia showdown.
The outing will mark Francis Ngannou’s return to competition, following a decision loss to unbeaten WBC heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury back in August of last year – with the former managing to even score devastating knockdown on the Morecambe native early into the 12 round back-and-forth.
Francis Ngannou is in line for his PFL bow
And with speculation continually mounting regarding Ngannou’s first outing under the Peter Murray-led PFL banner, confirmation from the organization tonight has revealed the Batié knockout artist will take on either Bader or the aforenoted, Ferreira – with the duo squaring off in a monstrous heavyweight title fight at a Bellator MMA vs. PFL event.
“BREAKING NEWS: HEAVY STAKES for Saturday Night,” PFL posted on their official X account. “@Francis_Ngannou will face the winner of the Renan Ferreira vs. Ryan Bader bout. #PFLvsBellator”
Yet to feature in mixed martial arts since UFC 270 back in January 2022, Ngannou most recently successfully unified the promotion’s titles with a heavyweight win over the then-unbeaten, Ciryl Gane in a decision victory over the former interim champion.
Ngannou would depart the promotion in January of last year, before inking a multi-year deal with the PFL.
Do you expect Francis Ngannou to land similar successes in the PFL?
PFL founder and chairman Donn Davis has claimed that there isn’t a UFC event in 2024 that generated the kind of viewership his promotion’s latest pay-per-view did. The Professional Fighters League returned to PPV this past weekend when Riyadh, Saudi Arabia played host to Battle of the Giants. The event was topped by two inaugural […]
PFL founder and chairman Donn Davis has claimed that there isn’t a UFC event in 2024 that generated the kind of viewership his promotion’s latest pay-per-view did.
With those two making their long-awaited returns to the cage in addition to Bellator gold being on the line between Johnny Eblen and Fabian Edwards, not to mention an exciting clash between Paul Hughes and AJ McKee, the Oct. 19 event was highly anticipated.
On that note, Davis recently conducted a Town Hall-style interview with MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck. The PFL chief took questions on a variety of topics from the mixed martial arts community, including some centered around the latest action inside the SmartCage.
When discussing how the event this past Saturday night performed, Davis made some bold claims. The PFL founder said his promotion’s research has shown that Battle of the Giants outperformed every event the UFC has put on this year in terms of viewership.
“I can’t answer the first question (how many PPV buys?). The second question (did it meet projected goals?), yes it did,” Davis said. “I actually made a post an hour ago…we actually provided eight viewership goals that we put out. Almost everything on this event, I put out one hour ago. What you will see is pretty astounding global audience numbers for this event.
“This event, by our research, beat every viewership number of every UFC event this year, and was very, very close to ‘Ring of Fire’ (Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk)…the biggest boxing event in five years,” Davis continued. “Overall, the same global viewership metrics of ‘Ring of Fire’. That was really something that was our stretch goal, and that’s what we achieved.”
As many pointed out in the comments below the PFL founder’s post on social media, the graphic doesn’t include viewership via pay-per-view on ESPN and DAZN and instead focuses on social media figures.
Rare in sports for excellence on global scale – we did it with PFL Super Fight: Battle of the Giants
But Davis went on to explain why a changing landscape in the broadcast and media realm means PPV buys are no longer the be-all and end-all when determining the success of an event in terms of global viewership.
“Right now, economics flow a very different way. In the sports world, it used to be just PPV buys. But now, money is made many different ways,” Davis stated. “Sponsorship, social media, host fees; there’s an economical bundle that is very different now. So there’s many metrics that matter.”
That falls significantly short of @ufc numbers throughout the year, with one example being numerous posts during April’s UFC 300 event. Of note was a video of Max Holloway’s buzzer-beating KO of Justin Gaethje, which surpassed 7.8 million views.
PFL heavyweight Renan Ferreira has spoken publicly for the first time since falling to a devastating fate at the hands of Francis Ngannou in Riyadh. In his return to Saudi Arabia eight months on from a rapid knockout of Ryan Bader at the PFL vs. Bellator event, Ferreira was the one on the wrong end […]
PFL heavyweight Renan Ferreira has spoken publicly for the first time since falling to a devastating fate at the hands of Francis Ngannou in Riyadh.
In his return to Saudi Arabia eight months on from a rapid knockout of Ryan Bader at the PFL vs. Bellator event, Ferreira was the one on the wrong end of a quick conclusion in the main event.
While “Problema” vowed to upset the odds and stall “The Predator’s” debut inside the SmartCage, he was quickly taken down and ground-and-pounded into unconsciousness.
With many seeing the stoppage as late, there was some concern over Ferreira’s condition in the immediate aftermath. Fortunately, he returned to his feet for the official result and has since released a statement on social media.
On his Instagram Stories, the 2023 PFL champ admitted to being ” a bit broken” by the disappointing result. He did, however, vow to bounce back stronger and thanked his supporters for their backing.
“Hey guys, Renan ‘Problema’ here, a bit broken,” Ferreira said in Portuguese. (h/t Danny Segura). “Yesterday wasn’t a good day at work, guys, but I’m very happy with all our dedication and everything that developed through our work. I’ve always had the mindset of never losing, for myself, to fight any lack of dedication and commitment, and thank God I have a clean conscience. I worked very hard there, showed up well to the fight, and was happy to return.
“Unfortunately, my opponent was superior. He managed to impose a game where that I couldn’t defend the takedowns, which led to very hard ground-and-pound to get through. And that’s it, life goes on, we’ll be back. I want to thank everyone for all the love and support, we’re always together. Hugs.”
While Ferreira looks ahead to his opportunity to return to winning ways next time out, all eyes are on Ngannou and his plans in MMA.
Though his desire to lace the boxing gloves is seemingly far from fulfilled, the Cameroonian’s emphatic comeback to the sport in which he made his name has no doubt only increased the fans’ appetite for some major matchups in the cage.
Francis Ngannou will take on Renan Ferreira for the PFL heavyweight championship on October 19, 2024. The Battle Of The Giants PPV will be the first time fans will witness “The Predator” in MMA since leaving the UFC. Ngannou’s last MMA fight was against Ciryl Gane in 2022 when he defended his UFC heavyweight title. […]
Francis Ngannou will take on Renan Ferreira for the PFL heavyweight championship on October 19, 2024. The Battle Of The Giants PPV will be the first time fans will witness “The Predator” in MMA since leaving the UFC.
Ngannou’s last MMA fight was against Ciryl Gane in 2022 when he defended his UFC heavyweight title. By grappling with the challenger for three rounds, he established himself as one of the most well-rounded heavyweight fighters in the world and went on to box Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
Ngannou’s return to MMA is certainly a huge deal for fans worldwide, but according to his coach, the PFL hasn’t promoted it in the best way possible…
Eric Nicksick Coach Critcizes PFL’s Battle Of The Giants Theme For Renan Ferreira vs. Francis Ngannou
Nicksick discussed the upcoming PFL fight between Ngannou and Ferreira on the MMAFightingonSBN YouTube channel. Like many others, he was surprised by the PFL not emphasizing their main event is for the lineal heavyweight championship.
The PFL has instead marketed Ferreira and Ngannou as two giants boasting unreal knockout power. According to Nicksick, he has to remind himself that “The Predator” is fighting for a title because the promotion is very different from how the UFC promotes a title fight.
“I literally forgot we’re, let’s say forgot we’re fighting for a title. But it’s like, oh we get another title fight, you know. You think of a five- rounder or whatever else, it’s like that’s how much it hasn’t been promoted. Like, we know, it’s a title fight in the back of my mind, but I had to like, reassure we’re fighting for a title here. You know, it’s like I feel the same way- it’s like I want to hear that more rather than like these two giants fighting. This is for the PFL title, you know. This is huge man, so I don’t know man, I just wish it was promoted a little bit better too.”
Nicksick admitted to expecting better promotion by the PFL, considering Ngannou’s solid legacy as a UFC champion and his popular bouts against Joshua and Fury.
#PFLvsBellator
Former undisputed UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou is slated to make his first walk in mixed martial arts later…
???????? ???? 
