Francis Ngannou is poised to make his eagerly awaited PFL debut this Saturday after signing with the organization last year. He is set to face Renan Ferreira in a highly anticipated title bout for the heavyweight championship.
This clash will headline the PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants pay-perview, taking place at The Mayadeen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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The former UFC heavyweight champion departed the promotion following his title defense against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 in January 2022, driven by his long-standing dream to compete in boxing. He faced former heavyweight champions Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua in the ring, but his foray into boxing didn't go as planned.
The matchup between Ngannou and Ferreira has become one of the most discussed fights of the year, as it marks the return of "The Predator" to the MMA cage after more than two years away. However, former UFC welterweight Matt Brown believes that Ngannou has yet to reach the level of stardom necessary to generate a significant pay-per-view draw for the PFL.
During a recent episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer (via MMAFighting), "The Immortal" remarked that while Ngannou's boxing matches were hailed as marquee events due to his bouts with two of the biggest names in the sport, his upcoming PFL fight may struggle to gain similar traction, primarily because his opponent lacks widespread recognition.
He’s not that big of a star," Brown said. "We watched him fight Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury because of him fighting those guys. He’s not a Conor McGregor, and we’re just going to watch him no matter who he fights. Even if Conor fought some lower-level guy, there would be a drop-off in pay-per-views, right?He’s got to have a 'B' side also that’s a 'B' side. Francis is fighting a 'D' side here. It’s not a 'B' side. It’s a 'D' side, and Francis just isn’t big enough of an 'A' side to draw. We don’t know how much he’s getting paid, but if it’s the amounts we would guess, it’s not going to cover his expense, I don’t think.
PFL CEO Peter Murray has confidently proclaimed that the Battle of the Giants card will outshine both UFC 300 and UFC 306 in terms of popularity, setting it up to be the year’s premier MMA event. However, fans will have to wait until the weekend to see if the Ngannou-headlined spectacle lives up to the hype.