Francis Ngannou heads back to Riyadh for his next fight
After taking on two of this generations’ greatest heavyweights in Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, ex-MMA star Francis Ngannou’s reputation and superstardom has increased 10-fold.
Now, the Cameroonian is wasting no time in taking on a new challenge, with his next opponent and fight location already named.
Ngannou controversially lost a split-decision to Fury on his boxing debut, despite scoring a knockdown over the WBC king in the third-round of the bout.
However, he was dealt a much harsher reality when tasked with ‘AJ’, who dispatched of the former UFC champion with ease, scoring three knockdowns inside two rounds, the last of which left Ngannou unconscious on the canvas and brought the contest to a close.
After the victory, Joshua urged Ngannou ‘not to leave boxing’, but it seems as though the inspirational 37-year-old will instead honour his contract with the Professional Fighters’ League, who kindly allowed him to pursue a career in boxing last year, before taking part in MMA fights with them.
Speaking to ‘The MMA Hour’, chairman and founder of the PFL, Donn Davis, revealed that Ngannou’s next fight will be back in the cage, taking on Brazil’s Renan Ferreira in less than six months’ time.
Donn Davis says PFL is planning a pay-per-view event with Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira as the main event.
Cris Cyborg vs. Larissa Pacheco will be the co-main event, with Cedric Doumbe also on the card.
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“That fight card will take place in Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia, but the details in terms of the month and the timing, we won’t announce that for about two more months.
“[September at latest] is what we think.”
Ferreira will not be new to Riyadh himself, after knocking out Ryan Bader during the opening round of their main-event clash on the PFL versus Bellator card in the Kingdom last month.
Accompanying the heavyweight clash will be a women’s featherweight showdown between Cris Cyborg and Larissa Pacheco as the co-main event, whilst welterweight contender and countryman of Ngannou’s, Cedric Doumbe, will also appear on the card.