After a 21-second technical knockout victory over Bellator
MMA heavyweight king Ryan Bader
last Saturday at
PFL vs. Bellator, Renan
Ferreira is 100% focused on a fight with Francis
Ngannou.
Advertisement
Although Ngannou left the venue without entering the cage for a
faceoff with the 2023
PFL heavyweight champion, Ferreira did not interpret those
actions as a lack of interest in a future fight.
“Since Francis entered the PFL, that’s the fight everybody wants to
see,” Ferreira told Sherdog.com. “I interpreted his attitude after
my knockout to be much more of a respectful one. I think Francis
knew that this was my moment, and he just respected that. I don’t
see any other fight that makes sense for both of us. If he wants to
make that in boxing or MMA it will not be a problem to me.”
Ferreira believes he will present some stylistic challenges for the
Cameroonian-born Frenchman.
“Francis is a different guy, very strong with knockout power, but I
see him walking straight forward all the time,” Ferreira said.
“When he fought a guy like Ciryl Gane,
who is faster with great footwork, Gane was able to hit him a
couple of times. I also move fast, but the difference between me
and Gane is my knockout power. Of course, this will be the biggest
challenge of my life, but I truly believe I have more knockout
power and I can surprise Ngannou.”
Ngannou is currently slated to face Anthony
Joshua in a boxing match in Saudi Arabia on March 8. With that
in mind, Ferreira plans on returning to action in the second half
of the year.
“Ngannou has a contract with PFL saying he must do an MMA fight
[by] July,” Ferreira said. “I’ll be ready when they decide.”
Ferreira also to took to praise
American Top Team for his evolution in all aspects of MMA.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t have many options for sparring at Team
Nogueira,” he said. “But at ATT I found some of the best
heavyweights in the world. Training daily with top guys like
[Junior dos
Santos, Marcus
Almeida, Augusto
Sakai, Marcos
Rogerio de Lima, Sergei
Pavlovich] and [being overseen] by top trainers like Conan
[Silveira] and [Steve] Mocco was a definitely a turning point in my
career.”
Fereira revealed that suffered a pretty significant cut during a
sparring session against Pavlovich.
“There is no easy training at ATT,” Ferreira said. “In my last
sparring [session] with Pavlovich, I needed 15 stitches for a cut
opened on my face by his kick. But he is such a nice guy, very
humble and open to teach and learn.”
Ferreira endured many hardships before choosing MMA as his career
path. Winning the $1 million that accompanied the 2023 PFL
Championship proved to be a life-changing event.
“I was raised by my mother along with seven siblings in a landless
settlement in the interior of Goiás,” he said. “When I started in
MMA in 2013, I slept in CT and often only had money to eat
stir-fried noodles. I worked so hard for 10 years to be able to
celebrate two belts and this wonderful prize of $1 million that
will change my life and that of my family.”
So far, Ferreira has only invested his winnings in a vehicle.
“After the victory in the [PFL final], I was called to fight with
Bader and I only had time to buy a car so I could come to ATT for
training,” Ferreira said. “My plans are to reinvest in my career. I
really like life here in America. I want to buy a house here, so I
can be closer to the gym. In fact, I haven’t stopped to think about
what I’m going to do. My focus is on reinvesting in my career.”