Coach: Francis Ngannou has ‘fallen in love with MMA’ again ahead of PFL debut

Francis Ngannou’s head coach Eric Nicksick knew the former UFC heavyweight champion would someday return to MMA despite the lucrative opportunities in boxing.

PFL recently announced Ngannou’s promotional debut — and first MMA fight since defending the UFC heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane in January 2022 — takes place Oct. 19 at PFL’s superfight pay-per-view event against Renan Ferreira in a five-round main event.

Following big-money boxing matches against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, as well as unfortunate death of Ngannou’s son Kobe, Nicksick felt the stars aligned for a return to the sport that put him on the map as MMA’s lineal heavyweight champion.

“I’m excited for him,” Nicksick told MMA Fighting. “Honestly, I think for me as a coach, just trying to get him through the loss of his son was the most important thing, and get him back in the gym, and get him back around the fellas and back to training. With that being said, that process, I think, has led him to feel comfortable in taking this fight, getting back in the cage, and then doing his PFL obligations.

“So first and foremost, man, I think he was just getting through that hard part and that hard stretch, which I don’t think he’s necessarily through. I think he’s just being able to occupy his mind and his time with MMA, and thankfully, he’s willing [and] wanting to come back and fight.”

Ngannou returns to MMA for the first time since making the decision to leave UFC as heavyweight champion at the beginning of 2023, which led to him signing a big free agent deal with PFL. After switching promotions, Ngannou dropped a split decision in a stunning performance against Fury in boxing before getting knocked out by Joshua.

There are still big-money fights in the squared circle Ngannou could likely get right now, but returning to MMA — and living up to his word as a PFL fighter — meant a lot to Ngannou.

“I didn’t [think his MMA career was done] because of the conversations that we have,” Nicksick said. “I think just because of his competitive nature and the legacy that he wants to leave behind when it comes to MMA, the things that we spoke about, I definitely felt like he was going to come back and fight. Then, there’s just a lot of the freedoms that PFL has given him, I think that he really enjoys and wants to help build this promotion.

“So if he’s the bell cow when it comes to PFL, I think he kind of wants to carry that role and help make this organization better. I really think that he’s fallen in love with MMA in a way when we were fighting Ciryl Gane before the knee injury, that he was just scratching the surface of his actual athletic potential when it comes to MMA. That’s something he’s told me in the past. So knowing the competitor that he is, I [always felt] he’s definitely going to fight again in MMA.”

Ferreira gets the biggest fight of his career coming off a quick knockout of former two-division Bellator champion Ryan Bader at PFL vs. Bellator in February. “Problema” enters the bout with four straight finishes, totaling just over 10 minutes of combined action.

What Ferreira carries in size and stature, he lacks in high-level competition and big-fight experience compared to Ngannou. While Nicksick is certainly aware of that massive advantage, it doesn’t mean they can overlook somebody as dangerous as Ferreira.

“Confidence in this sport is something that can take you over the top more than skill at times,” Nicksick said of Ferreira. “Just believing in your skill set and winning the way that he has been winning, reeling off some good wins, heading into a Francis Ngannou fight, I think that Renan has this confidence that he can beat anybody — and he should. He’s very good and he’s a guy that Francis and I have been watching even before he was in the PFL, like, ‘Oh man, this guy is good.’

“So I think just keeping Francis focused on the task at hand [is key], and understanding this guy is dangerous everywhere, but I feel like we have the ability to kind of neutralize some of those things that he does well, and go out and make it a short night.”

If Ngannou continues his path of destruction in MMA, the options will be aplenty for “The Predator.” Is it boxing, MMA, or perhaps, rising combat sports promoter Turki Alalshikh pulling a magic rabbit of his hat?

“Because of the freedoms that he has, he can always revisit boxing if there’s a name that pops up,” Nicksick said. “That’s the best part about the situation that he’s in — he’s a contractor. He goes out to the highest bidder. He can decide what he wants to do whenever he wants to do it.

“We have our sights on Oct. 19. Whatever position or whatever situation arises by that time — hell, you never know, Turki might come in and get UFC to get him to fight Jon Jones. You never freaking know with this sport what comes about. All options are on the table, man. We’ll figure that out once we handle this business Oct. 19.”