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.