Francis Ngannou and Renan Ferreira enter the cage Saturday with correct billing.

“Battle of the Giants,” trumpets the Skilled Fighters League (PFL), will pit Ngannou, a 6-4, 256-pound Cameroonian, towards Ferreira, a 6-8, 261-pound Brazilian, in the principle occasion of the PFL Tremendous Fights in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Each males have jaw-dropping energy.

Ferreria, 34, is 13-3 with 11 KOs. Ngannou, 38, is 17-3 with 12 knockouts. However numbers fail to account for one more vital storyline. This conflict marks Ngannou’s first MMA struggle since January 2022, after which he left UFC due to a contract dispute and ventured into professional boxing.

He surprised the world of fight sports activities in October 2023 when knocked down and almost beat Tyson Fury in his professional boxing debut. However he received brutally knocked out by Anthony Joshua of their March struggle.

The next month, Ngannou introduced his 15-month-old son died. Nonetheless grieving, Ngannou informed USA TODAY Sports activities he determined to struggle once more partly due to his son’s demise. Whether or not it was too quickly will grow to be clearer Saturday throughout his large PFL debut.

What time is Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira?

Preliminary card begins at 1:30 p.m. ET Saturday. Important card begins at 4 ET. 

The place is the Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira struggle tonight?

The Mayadeen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 

Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira the best way to watch 

• Preliminary card on ESPN+. Free with subscription.
• Important card on DAZN. PPV charge: $49.99. 

Combating now: A.J. McKee vs. Paul Hughes, light-weight

The primary struggle of the principle card is underway. Keep tuned for round-by-round evaluation of all primary card fights.

Spherical 1: McKee fires with a kick. Hughes almost catches it however McKee jerks free. McKee punches and kicks and works Hughes towards the fence earlier than Hughes turns the tables. Clinched now. They commerce knees to the intestine. Simply tangled. McKee breaks free and Hughes rewards him with a knee to the physique. McKee delivers a few kicks and Hughes solutions with punches. Extra kicks from McKee and extra punches from Hughes. They’re wrapped up on the mat. Again on their ft and Hughes delivers a nasty knee and drops McKee with an enormous proper because the bell rings. Hughes 10, McKee 9.

Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira primary card 

• Cris Cyborg vs. Larissa Pacheco, ladies’s featherweight 
• Johnny Eblen vs. Fabian Edwards, middleweight 
• Husein Kadimagomaev vs. Zafar Mohsen, featherweight 
• AJ McKee vs. Paul Hughes, light-weight 

Cris Cyborg vs. Larissa Pacheco time 

This struggle is the co-main and can begin immediately earlier than Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferriera 

Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira preliminary card 

• Raufeon Stots def. Marcos Breno, bantamweight 
• Makkasharip  Zaynukov def. Dedrek Sanders, light-weight 
• Ibragim Ibragimov def. Nacho Campos, featherweight 
• Taha Bendaoud def. Tariq Ismail, featherweight 

Raufeon Stots def. Marcos Breno by submission, third spherical

Breno almost knocked down Stots twice early within the first spherical of their three-round bantamweight struggle. Any celebration would have been untimely.

Breno maintained his aggressive assault and gained the spherical. However Stots, a former NCAA Division II wrestling champion, ultimately discovered a chance to capitalize on his grappling.

It went from good to sensible for Stots within the third spherical, when Breno took down Stots solely to seek out himself shortly underneath Stots’ management.

He punished Breno with punches and completed him off with a rear bare choke. Breno tapped out with 1:59 left within the struggle.

Stots, a 25-year-old from Texas, improved to 21-2. Breno, a 26-year-old from Connecticut, fell to 15-4.

Makkasharip Zaynukov def. Dedrek Sanders, unanimous choice

By the tip, about the one factor in query about this three-round light-weight struggle was whether or not Sanders would keep away from a submission or survive late hammer fists earlier than the referee interceded.

He did.

However Zaynukov was dominant, securing seven takedowns. Maybe probably the most spectacular takedown: within the second spherical, Sanders caught Zaynukov’s leg after an tried kick and but moments later it was Zaynukov who wrestled Sanders to the mat.

A number of occasions, Sanders appeared to squirm free. It was false hope, as Zaynukov sustained his dominance with superior grappling.

All three referees scored it as a unanimous choice for Zaynukov, a Russian who improved to 16-4. Sanders, a 34-year-old from Alaska, fell to 9-5. 

Ibragim Ibragimov def. Nacho Campos by unanimous choice

Ibragimov opened the featherweight bout with just a few kicks, together with a flashy wheel kick. Looking back, it felt like principally present.

He shortly shifted into his dominant place: grappling, and Campos seemed largely helpless. He spent more often than not on the mat – and seeking to the referee in hopes he would instruct the fighters to face up in the course of the three-round featherweight bout.

No luck.

Campos did get in his pictures, however Ibragimov’s fists linked much more – 125 strikes for Ibragimov to 57 strikes for Campos.

The gang grew stressed with all of the wrestling, however the judges didn’t appear to thoughts. All three scored it 30-27 in favor of Ibrahimov, the 20-year-old from Republic of Dagestan who improved to 8-0.

Campos, a Spaniard, fell to 5-1.

Taha Bendaoud def. Tariq Ismail by submission, 2nd spherical 

Bendaoud’s face was bloody and swollen after the struggle, but it surely didn’t hold him from pulling off a shock transfer to win the featherweight bout.

Ismail dominated the primary spherical after securing a takedown. It was extra of the identical within the second spherical, solely this time Ismail pounded Bendaoud’s face because the blood flowed.

However as Ismail leaned in for extra strikes, Bendaoud shocked him with a triangle choke and along with his legs squeezed him like a boa constrictor earlier than Ismail tapped out with 1:09 left within the second spherical.

Bendaoud, a 29-year-old from Morocco, improved to 4-0. Ismael, a 34-year-old from Sudan, fell to 8-2.

Francis Ngannou boxing document 

Ngannou is 0-2 in boxing. He’s 17-3-1 in MMA with 12 KOs and 4 submissions. 

Renan Ferreira document 

13-3 in MMA with 11 KOs and one submission 

Francis Ngannou spouse 

Ngannou, who has two youngsters, has protected the small print of his personal life. 

How did Francis Ngannou son cross away 

In April, Ngannou introduced his son Kobe had died on the age of 15 months. Ngannou mentioned medical doctors didn’t diagnose a mind malformation that resulted in Kobe’s demise. 

Francis Ngannou peak & weight 

6-4, 256 kilos 

Renan Ferreira peak & weight 

6-8, 261 kilos 

How previous is Francis Ngannou? 

38 

How previous is Renan Ferreira? 

34 

Cris Cyborg document 

27-2 with 21 KOs and one submission 

How tall is Cris Cyborg?

5-8 

Larissa Pacheco document 

23-4 with 11 KOs and eight submissions 

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