Things started with a bang at PFL Battle of the Giants: Ngannou vs. Ferreira on Saturday afternoon.
The Professional Fighters League is staging its second pay-per-view event of the year in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia today, with The Mayadeen playing host to a number of intriguing matchups.
And before three championship fights headline and Francis Ngannou makes his return to mixed martial arts, plenty of fighters have the opportunity to impress on the preliminary card.
In that regard, the undefeated Taha Bendaoud certainly capitalized — though it initially appeared as though his opponent was set to pick up the compliments.
Midway through the second round of the card's opening bout, Tariq Ismail held dominant position and rained down blows on "Atlas Lion." Bendaoud's defense thinned, leaving referee Bryan Miner giving multiple verbal warnings of an impending stoppage.
But just when hope appeared to be drifting, the Moroccan fighter latched onto a tight triangle choke, forcing a tap from Ismail and completing one of this year's best comebacks thus far.
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The PFL will hope for similar action throughout the night, especially when the five-fight main card commences.
Following a highly anticipated clash between Irish prospect Paul Hughes and former Bellator champion AJ McKee, all eyes will turn to gold.
In addition to Johnny Eblen and Fabian Edwards running it back for the former's Bellator middleweight title, the inaugural superfight championships will be on the line in Cris Cyborg vs. Larissa Pacheco and Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira.