Ngannou Performs His Best Now that He’s Back in the Cage

Renan Ferreira is one of the more physically imposing fighters in mixed martial arts. But Ferreira also proved during the PFL’s Battle of the Giants Card in Saudi Arabia Saturday that you need more than muscles on a 6-foot-8 frame to be a PFL heavyweight champion. Francis Ngannou showed why he was able to climb the ladder in the UFC and become that promotion’s champion before leaving for more lucrative ventures.

After a quick detour in boxing, there were many people who closely followed MMAfighting latest news and were interested in seeing how Ngannou would bounce back from his failed boxing experiment. Ngannou’s last moment in a competitive combat sport was a knockout loss to former heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua.

But with more weapons available to him than his hands, Ngannou was able to deliver an impressive performance against Ferreira. Ngannou scored a takedown about a minute into the fight and was able to work quickly into top position.

Ngannou avoided a few submission attempts from Ferreira. When Ngannou could let his hands go, he secured a knockout in the first round. The big question for the PFL is what opponent they will be able to find for Ngannou next that will draw big interest from the MMA community.

The PFL doesn’t necessarily have a lot of big names in the heavyweight division that would draw interest from a casual audience. Going back to boxing likely seems like a foolish endeavor. Joshua showed that Ngannou lacks the experience to fight any motivated top-10 heavyweight.

Cyborg Turns Back the Clock

Cris Cyborg, 39, knows she has little time left for a legacy tour to build on her already impressive resume. But Cyborg’s win over Larissa Pacheco was another big moment for the former UFC and Bellator champion. Cyborg had to handle the powerful striking of Pacheco and suffered a nasty cut during the fight. But MMA breaking news showed that Cyborg didn’t get discouraged. Instead, she continued with consistent striking that Pacheco didn’t have an answer for. Both women fired out aggressive strikes. The final two rounds were close. But Cyborg did enough to pick up a decision win. It was an impressive win for Cyborg, who is one of the true pioneers of women’s MMA. She has now won five major titles in different organizations.

It can be reasonably argued that Cyborg is the second-best women’s fighter of all time behind Amanda Nunes. Nunes beat Cyborg head-to-head with a memorable knockout in the first round. It’s a shame that Nunes and Cyborg never had an opportunity for a rematch.

This is a case where it may make sense to have Cyborg and Pacheco fight again. There isn’t another top women’s fighter that makes sense for either competitor. Cyborg has said several times that she only wants fights against top opponents.

With how close this fight was, this would be a good candidate for a rematch.

Eblen Hangs on to Win

Johnny Eblen is one of the best middleweights in the world. But it’s hard to say that many people are itching to see the undefeated American fighter again. Eblen was able to defend his PFL Superfight Middleweight championship by winning a rematch with Fabian Edwards by decision. During the final round of their championship fight, Edwards landed some stiff punches in the fifth round and was able to make Eblen sweat. While Eblen is an excellent fighter, his future is in doubt. The MMA latest updates show there is a real pushback among fans against fighters who lean heavily on wrestling and don’t finish fights.

Eblen, who is 32 and now 16-0, has only won six fights by knockout. There is also a question of who the PFL can find to fight Eblen. The PFL doesn’t have a 185-pound division, so there is no season-long tournament for him.

It will be interesting to see if Eblen seeks an opportunity elsewhere.

Hughes Shows He Was Worth the Money

The PFL had a real desire to sign Paul Hughes before the UFC tried to secure the services of the Irish star. But there were some real questions about whether the PFL was pushing him too quickly when they pitted him against former Bellator champion A.J. McKee on this card. But Hughes showed he was ready for the battle.

Hughes scored a big knockout at the end of one round. He was also effective enough in the striking to keep McKee off-balance. This was an impressive split-decision win for Hughes.

Many media members believed the decision should have been unanimous. Hughes turned down the UFC to sign with the PFL, so it will be interesting to see if the Irish star can inspire others to follow the same path.

Stots Continues to Find Success

Raufeon Stots, 35, hasn’t slowed down too much as he approaches the back half of his 30s. Stots has picked up consecutive wins since his disappointing knockout loss to Patchy Mix in April 2023. Stots improved his record to 21-2 in his career when he submitted Marcos Breno in the third round Saturday night.

Breno had likely hoped to avoid hitting the mats against Stots. During Breno’s career, he has been the most vulnerable when he has gone to the ground. While Breno has never been knocked out, he has been submitted three times.

Breno will need to work on his ground game if he wants to reach the higher levels of the PFL.

Here are the results of the other fights on the card not mentioned above:

Featherweight, Zafar Mohsen win by decision over Husein Kadimagomaev, 30-27 (x3)

Lightweight, Makkasharip Zaynukov win by decision over Dedrek Sanders, 30-26 (x3)

Featherweight, Ibragim Ibragimov win by decision over Nacho Campos, 30-27

Featherweight, Taha Bendaoud win by submission over Tariq Ismail, Round 2 3:51

Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com.

By Dean McHugh.