PFL’s Renan Ferreira believes Francis Ngannou knows he’s a threat: “I saw he had an uncomfortable smile on his face”
PFL heavyweight Renan Ferreira believes Francis Ngannou realizes that he is a problem for him.
Ferreira competed on the PFL vs. Bellator: Champs card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The 2023 PFL heavyweight champion took on Bellator heavyweight titleholder Ryan Bader. Ferreira only needed 21 seconds to score the TKO finish. Ngannou was in attendance, but he never had a face-to-face encounter with Ferreira inside the cage despite PFL announcing that a future fight between the two is being planned.
Ferreira has shared his theory on why the faceoff never happened.
Renan Ferreira Believes Francis Ngannou Knows He’s A Threat
During an interview with MMAFighting.com, Renan Ferreira shared his belief that Francis Ngannou knows he’ll be in for a tall task when the two eventually collide whether it’s in the PFL SmartCage or a boxing ring.
“It surprised me a little bit,” Ferreira said. “I thought he was going to go up there, that we would do the faceoff. I saw he had an uncomfortable smile on his face. I think he felt this is for real, that this is a big problem for him. There’s a guy coming and he’s not fooling around, he’s hungry for the victory.
“[Ngannou] is on this boxing adventure that is opening many doors and I have huge respect for him, but he has a contract with PFL. Like I said, I’m ready to box him as well, I’m ready to fight him in MMA. Wherever they want, I’ll be ready.”
Ngannou is set to have a marquee boxing match against Anthony Joshua on March 8. With a win, Ngannou could punch his ticket to either a rematch with Tyson Fury, or a showdown with Oleksandr Usyk. When he decides to return to MMA, Ferreira will be waiting for him.
