Francis Ngannou reminded everybody why he is mixed martial arts’ lineal heavyweight championship.
The former undisputed UFC heavyweight champion made his PFL debut Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the organization’s “Battle of the Giants” event with Ngannou adding another knockout victory to his record.
Ngannou stopped his opponent, Renan Ferreira, in the opening round of the main event with ground-and-pound strikes.
The 38-year-old from Cameroon had not fought in MMA since defeating Ciryl Gane by unanimous decision at UFC 270 in January of 2022. He left the UFC that year following a contract dispute and later joined the PFL.
Ngannou did participate in two high-level boxing matches over the past year. He went the distance and lost a close decision to Tyson Fury, even knocking down the former undisputed champion at one point, in October of 2023.
He was viciously knocked out by Anthony Joshua this past March in his second pro boxing match.
Outside of competition, Ngannou has also been mourning the tragic loss of his 15-month-old son since April.
On Saturday, instead of showing off his new boxing skills against his 6-foot-8 knockout artist opponent, Ngannou returned to his MMA roots by landing an early takedown, showing off some submission defence before firing away with thudding punches while on the canvas that eventually put Ferreira out.
Ngannou was awarded a PFL Super Fights Championship belt for the victory. He has won seven MMA fights in a row, six by knockout, dating back to 2018.
Women’s MMA legend Cris “Cyborg” won the women’s featherweight PFL Super Fight Championship with a five-round unanimous decision win over two-division PFL titleholder Larissa Pacheco in the co-main event.
Cyborg, one of the all-time greats in the sport, overcame a nasty cut near one of her eyes to win her fifth major MMA title. She is also a former UFC, Bellator, Invicta and Strikeforce champion.
Pacheco had won 10 in a row and is the only fighter with a win over Kayla Harrison.
Johnny Eblen improved to 16-0 and defended his Bellator middleweight championship with another win over Fabian Edwards. Eblen finished Edwards by technical knockout in 2023 at Bellator 299 when they first met and won three of five rounds on all scorecards in the rematch.
Eblen continues to make a strong case that he is the best middleweight in all of MMA.
Also on the card, lightweight standout Paul Hughes picked up the biggest win of his career by getting the nod in a split decision over former Bellator featherweight champ A.J. McKee.
Below are the full PFL: Battle of the Giants results…
MAIN CARD
— Francis Ngannou def. Renan Ferreira by knockout in Round 1
— Cris Cyborg def. Larissa Pacheco by unanimous decision
— Johnny Eblen def. Fabian Edwards by unanimous decision
— Zafar Mohsen def. Husein Kadimagomaev by unanimous decision
— Paul Hughes def. A. J. McKee by split decision
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Raufeon Stots def. Marcos Breno by submission (rear-naked choke) in Round 3
— Makkasharip Zaynukov def. Dedrek Sanders by unanimous decision
— Ibragim Ibragimov def. Nacho Campos by unanimous decision
— Taha Bendaoud def. Tariq Ismail by submission (triangle choke) in Round 2