There have been some massive developments regarding Francis Ngannou’s PFL debut, and the information has come straight from the promotion’s founder.
Francis Ngannou’s loss to Anthony Joshua changed his PFL plans
Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champion, switched sides with PFL but is yet to make his promotional debut. After parting ways with Dana White’s company, the French-Cameroonian ventured into professional boxing, having faced Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
Both of his boxing fights ended in losses for “The Predator”. While the Fury fight in October last year had more an even contest between the two, with Ngannou even dropping Fury during the fight, it was AJ who outright dominated Ngannou in their 8th March clash which ended with a 2nd round KO win for Joshua.
And now, it appears that Ngannou will be back to the cage, as PFL founder Donn Davis announced his promotional debut during a recent episode on The MMA Hour, revealing that Ngannou will fight Renan Ferreira this year- by September. However, Davis also added that if Ngannou won against Joshua, his PFL debut wouldn’t have happened before Q1 2025.
“I obviously root for Francis all the time, he’s our partner, and I truly do,” said Davis. “But he would not have fought in MMA until the first quarter of 2025 [had he defeated Joshua]. We talked to him about that, and i was very vocal about that… I’m rooting for Francis all the time, but now he’s coming back early, will it be as early as July? Maybe. Will it be as late as September? No later. But you’ll see Francis now in 2024, in PFL, against ‘The Problema’.”
Cris Cyborg to face Larissa Pacheco in the co-main event
Further, Davis revealed that MMA’s Grand Slam champion Cris Cyborg will also be starring on the undercard of Ngannou vs. Ferreira, in the co-main event where she will fight Larissa Pacheco.
“That will be a pay-per-view fight,” Davis confirmed. “That fight will also have Cris Cyborg against Larissa Pacheco as the co-main fight. That fight will also have Cédric Doumbé against someone we’ll announce. So that fight is gonna be big,” added Davis. [H/T MMA News]
Donn Davis says if Francis Ngannou had won he would not have fought in the PFL until 2025 Q1.
Says Ngannou/Ferreira will happen on PPV sometime between July and September.
Also on that card will be Cyborg/Pacheco.#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/cc8qOVAHTn
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) March 20, 2024
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