π¨ππ₯πππππ‘π π‘ππͺπ¦ π¨
ππππ©π¬ π¦π§ππππ¦ For Saturday Night π@francis_ngannou
will face the winner of the Renan Ferriera vs Ryan Bader
bout#PFLvsBellator
pic.twitter.com/4dP9RqYiMuβ PFL (@PFLMMA)
February 22, 2024
Professional Fighters League star Francis
Ngannou has his sights set very closely on one upcoming
bout.
Per Ngannou (17-3) on βSportscenterβ on Thursday, he is eyeing his
return to MMA in 2024. He plans on taking on the winner of the
heavyweight title tilt pairing PFL champ Renan
Ferreira against former two-division Bellator MMA beltholder Ryan Bader.
The two will square off on Feb. 24 atop the first PFL vs. Bellator
event, which will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the
Kingdom Arena. Ngannou will be in the building, and may enter the
cage the challenge the victor and face off against him.
The PFL immediately released a statement to follow, with CEO Peter
Murray saying, βThe PFL is excited to announced Francis
Ngannouβs return to MMA in the PFL PPV Division against the
winner of the PFL Champion vs. Bellator Champion Heavyweight
Superfight between Renan
Ferreira and Ryan
Bader.β
Ngannou is currently training to box Anthony
Joshua on March 8, which will also be held in Riyadh. In his
boxing debut, the Cameroon native dropped a closely contested split
decision to Tyson Fury,
in which he dropped the Brit in the third round much to the
surprise of onlookers. Should he prevail over Joshua, it remains to
be seen if Ngannouβs plan to return to MMA will come to fruition.
As an MMA fighter, βThe Predatorβ has not set foot in a cage since
January 2022, when he picked up a decision over Ciryl Gane
to unify the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight
strap.