RIYADH (Reuters) – Cameroon’s Francis Ngannou made a triumphant return to mixed martial arts by knocking out Renan Ferreria in the first round of their heavyweight clash at the Professional Fighters League (PFL) event dubbed “Battle Of The Giants” in the early hours of Sunday morning.
After some early heavy kicks from both fighters Ngannou, who hadn’t fought in mixed martial arts since January 2022, took the fight to the mat and eventually got behind his Brazilian opponent, landing a series bludgeoning punches to end the fight with 88 seconds left in the first round.
A tearful Ngannou then dedicated his victory to the memory of his 15-month-old son Kobe, whose death was announced in April of this year.
“I only did this fight because of him. I wanted to fight for him … I hope they can remember his name, because without Kobe, we wouldn’t be here tonight,” he said in a post-fight interview in the cage.
The event broke with the PFL’s usual format of a regular season and playoffs to put on a series of “super fights” with belts at stake as Ngannou made his return to the sport where he made his name after a foray into the world of boxing.
Ngannou’s rise from childhood poverty in Cameroon to the pinnacle of mixed martial arts, where he won the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight title in March 2021, made him a hugely popular figure and one of the most sought-after free agents in combat sports when his UFC contract expired.
He went on to take part in lucrative boxing matches against heavyweights Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, both of which he lost, and his signing was a huge coup for the PFL in its battle to compete with the UFC.
In the evening’s co-main event for the PFL Super Fights women’s featherweight belt, Brazilians Cris Cyborg and Larissa Pacheco went to war over five rounds, with the vastly experienced Cyborg emerging victorious via unanimous decision.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
