After trying his hand in professional boxing, Francis Ngannou returns to mixed martial arts with the tough task of challenging PFL heavyweight champion Renan Ferreira for the newly minted PFL Super Fights Championship Belt on October 19, live on DAZN worldwide.
Despite the 6-foot-8 Ferreira gaining steam via four straight wins — each by devastating knockout — Ngannou doesn't see the "Problema" from Brazil being a quandary for him to solve in the cage.
"Everyone is a problem at some extent and then, he's definitely a problem for some people," Ngannou said at the PFL's Battle of the Giants Press Conference on Thursday.
"As long as I'm concerned, he's not the problem," Ngannou said bluntly. "'Problema against the 'Predator' — I think the nicknames speak for itself."
Ferreira didn't take those words lightly, vowing to make Ngannou's return to MMA worse than his boxing bouts, where he lost a split-decision to Tyson Fury in October before being badly slept via a second-round KO from Anthony Joshua in March.
"Francis has been going through a tough year in his life but the toughest challenge in his life and in his year is going to be me," Ferreira shot back through an interpreter. "I'm going to be the biggest problem of his year right now. Tough puzzle for him to figure out."
Their words on stage were followed with this intense faceoff, where Ngannou vowed "you're going to face a real champion."
For Francis, the former UFC heavyweight champion, returning to MMA has been a process of shedding nerves early on.
"I'm very excited about this and also a little nervous," Ngannou admitted. "I was just behind the stage and I'm like 'OK, it's been a long time that I haven't been here' but I remember when I get back to the gym like two months ago, I was also nervous like 'maybe I have forgotten how to fight.'"
His training in building up to challenge the rugged Ferreira will likely serve as an apt reminder.
Prior to boxing, Ngannou produced a unanimous decision over Ciryl Gane in his last MMA bout back in January 2022.
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