Renan Ferreira tells Francis Ngannou he’s gonna be “the toughest challenge in his life and in his year” despite losing his son

Renan Ferreira has made a controversial comment to Francis Ngannou in the lead-up to their October 19 fight.

Ngannou is set to make his PFL debut in Saudi Arabia against last year’s heavyweight champion in Ferreira in an intriguing bout. Ahead of the fight, the two were involved in the PFL’s press conference, and during it, Ferreira made a controversial comment towards Ngannou.

“Francis has been going through a tough year in his life, but the toughest challenge in his life and in his year is gonna be me. I’m gonna be the biggest problem of his year.”

…..yikes. @PFLMMA #PFLSuperFight

pic.twitter.com/qXFHwQHGTT

— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) August 22, 2024

“Francis has been going through a tough year in his life, but the toughest challenge in his life and in his year is gonna be me. I’m gonna be the biggest problem of his year right now, tough puzzle for him to figure out,” Ferreira said.

Of course, Francis Ngannou’s 15-month-old son passed away earlier this year, which is why many people were not happy with what Renan Ferreira had to say.

After Ferreira’s comments, Darren Till took to social media to criticize Ferreira for what he said.

Francis literally lost his son… like he passed away… died if you want to put it like that. And this moron thinks he’s gonna be Francis biggest test.
There is nothing right now that life could throw at Francis that would phase him. He would simply laugh it off. He lost a son.… https://t.co/euS0F0cyQJ

— DT (@darrentill2) August 22, 2024

“Francis literally lost his son… like he passed away… died if you want to put it like that. And this moron thinks he’s gonna be Francis biggest test. There is nothing right now that life could throw at Francis that would phase him. He would simply laugh it off. He lost a son. One of the worst things I’ve heard said in recent years at a conference…,” Darren Till wrote in response to what Renan Ferreira said.

It was through a translator, so perhaps something got mistranslated, but regardless it was not a good look for Ferreira, especially with what Ngannou has gone through this year.

Renan Ferreira is 13-3 and three NCs as a pro and coming off a 21-second knockout win over Ryan Bader back in February. Before that, he scored a TKO win over Denis Goltsov to win the 2023 PFL heavyweight tournament. The Brazilian also has notable wins over Maurice Greene, Jared Vanderaa, and Carl Seumanutafa among others.