Francis Ngannou says PFL debut vs. Renan Ferreira in the works for October

Former UFC champ Francis Ngannou says his first PFL MMA fight is being targeted for October against a 6-foot-8 "Problema."

Francis Ngannou may return to MMA for his PFL debut in October.

The former UFC heavyweight champion says his first fight under the PFL banner is being targeted for October in Saudi Arabia against the 2023 PFL heavyweight champion Renan Ferreira. Ngannou revealed the plan when speaking on Joe Rogan’s podcast.

“I will be fighting by the end of the year,” Ngannou said on the “JRE MMA Show.” “… I think Renan Ferreira is the guy.”

Ferreira (13-3 MMA, 7-1 PFL), who stands at 6-foot-8, won the 2023 PFL heavyweight championship by stopping Denis Goltsov in the second round. He followed that performance by stopping Ryan Bader in the first round at the crossover PFL vs. Bellator: Champions event. He is widely believed to be the best challenge for Ngannou on the PFL roster.

“I’ve been telling people about this guy for almost two years,” Ngannou said. “I said, ‘Watch this guy.’ Very athletic. Fast hands, 1-2, knees – very athletic. So, I think it’s going to be him.”

While Ngannou was clear that the fight was not finalized, he seemed confident that this was the direction the promotion wanted to go for his debut, and he also expects the highly-touted Cedric Doumbe to be on the card as well.

Ngannou has not competed in MMA since exiting the UFC in 2022. He successfully landed a pair of boxing fights against two of the biggest names in the heavyweight division, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.

“The Predator” lost a split decision in a fantastic showing against Fury, scoring the only knockdown in the fight. However, his fight with Joshua was not as competitive as he lost by knockout in Round 2.

While 0-2 as a professional boxer, Ngannou says there are still big fights for him on the horizon in the ring.

However, on the MMA side of things, he is on a six-fight winning streak in MMA, a stretch that saw him finish Curtis Blaydes, Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and a title-winning knockout of Stipe Miocic.

After recording a successful UFC title defense against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270, Ngannou’s title was vacated after negotiations with the promotion failed, opening the door for PFL to sign him as a fighter and chairman of PFL Africa.