Renan Ferreira doesn’t plan on preventing till he faces Francis Ngannou.
The 2023 PFL heavyweight champion walked via Ryan Bader in the primary occasion of PFL vs. Bellator earlier this month in Saudi Arabia, which was promoted by PFL as a bout to find out who will welcome former UFC champion Ngannou to the corporate.
Ferreira instructed MMA Preventing that he won’t enter the 2024 PFL season and can as an alternative decide to attend for Ngannou to renew his MMA profession first. “The Predator” shocked the world in 2023 with a cut up resolution defeat to Tyson Fury in boxing, and now faces Anthony Joshua on Could 8. Ngannou’s return to MMA could possibly be delayed once more relying on what occurs in opposition to Joshua, in addition to the results of Fury’s upcoming title conflict with Oleksandr Usyk on Could 18.
“For the time being, we’ll sit and we’ll wait,” Ferreira mentioned. “I’ll get some relaxation. I’ve been preventing in [PFL tournaments] for 3 years and it’s very exhausting. I fought in November and had no relaxation, I needed to combat in February already, so my physique is drained now. I would like a while to get better bodily and return to coaching, so I’ll be ready for this combat, fairly anxiously. I’m very completely happy for this chance, and I hope it occurs quickly.”
Ferreira mentioned he’s assured Ngannou will compete underneath the PFL umbrella finally because the Cameroonian champion is underneath contract with the promotion and PFL already marketed that the winner of Ferreira vs. Bader will get Ngannou subsequent.
Ferreira admits, nonetheless, that he was shocked to see Ngannou stroll away from the Kingdom Area in Riyadh with out doing an in-cage faceoff to advertise a future bout.
“It shocked me slightly bit,” Ferreira mentioned. “I assumed he was going to go up there, that we’d do the faceoff. I noticed he had an uncomfortable smile on his face. I feel he felt that is for actual, that this can be a large downside for him. There’s a man coming and he’s not playing around, he’s hungry for the victory.
“[Ngannou] is on this boxing journey that’s opening many doorways and I’ve large respect for him, however he has a contract with PFL. Like I mentioned, I’m able to field him as nicely, I’m able to combat him in MMA. Wherever they need, I’ll be prepared.”
Ferreira is 13-3 with a trio of no-contests in MMA, and has stopped his opponents in 11 of his skilled wins. Ferreira completed 4 rivals in lower than a minute since becoming a member of PFL, and claimed the 2023 heavyweight championship with a brutal knockout of Denis Goltsov.
Ngannou hasn’t competed in MMA since a call victory over Ciryl Gane to defend his UFC heavyweight title in January 2022, which capped off an intense six-fight win UFC streak earlier than he made historical past by departing the promotion as champion. “The Predator” knocked out his prior 5 opponents, from former UFC champions in Stipe Miocic, Cain Velasquez, and Junior dos Santos, to contenders in Curtis Blaydes and Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
“It was nice motivation for me to have Francis Ngannou watching me there,” Ferreira mentioned. “He’s seen me combat earlier than and has spoken enormously about me, and that was further motivation. This combat pursuits me rather a lot. To combat a champion like him, a very robust man, it’s a combat the entire world desires to see. I used to be completely happy to have him there, and I didn’t really feel any stress. To have Mike Tyson there, nice names like Jon Jones, those who have made historical past.”
