Francis Ngannou returned to MMA on Saturday night and made a statement. Less than six months since the death of his 15-month-old son Kobe and a little more than seven months since Anthony Joshua knocked him out inside the boxing ring, the former UFC heavyweight champion, who never lost his title in the cage, defeated Renan Ferreira in the main event of the PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants fight card.
Ngannou had not participated in an MMA contest since he defended his UFC title against Ciryl Gane in January 2022. The 38-year-old looked excellent against the larger Ferreira on Saturday. Ngannou used his wrestling and striking to dominate the fight and leave the cage with a first-round knockout victory via devastating ground strikes.
After his win, an emotional Ngannou said he only took the fight because of his son, and he hoped that no one would forget Kobe’s name before dedicating his win to him.
In the evening’s co-main event, 39-year-old Cris Cyborg picked up a title in a fifth promotion with a decision win over Larissa Pacheco in a hard-fought women’s featherweight contest that was entertaining and might warrant a future rematch if Cyborg, who has also held belts with Bellator, Strikeforce, Invicta FC, and UFC, wants to include that contest on her farewell tour.
