Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou returns to the cage for the primary time in practically three years when he makes his Skilled Fighters League debut Saturday evening towards Renan Ferreira.
Ngannou’s return to combined martial arts after a cease on the planet of boxing marks a pivotal second for him to silence his haters and naysayers, nevertheless it’s additionally an opportunity for the PFL to show that it’s a prime MMA promotion with assist from Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund.
Highlighted by the primary card, the “Battle of the Giants” occasion within the capital metropolis of Riyadh attracts consideration to the greater than $100 million minority stake transaction made final yr by SRJ Sports activities Investments, a sports-focused fund launched by PIF final yr. Whereas Ngannou appears to be like to show that he made the proper determination to go away UFC for the PFL, the extremely anticipated battle additionally exhibits the PIF cash at work on a world stage because it uplifts the second-biggest MMA promotion.
“We wanted sufficient capital to take the enterprise to the place we’ve been capable of take it to,” PFL co-founder Donn Davis stated in an interview. “We had nice concepts however not sufficient capital to implement these concepts.”
SRJ, pronounced “surge,” was established to speed up development of the sports activities sector in Saudia Arabia and MENA area (Center East and North Africa) by way of mental property from main sporting occasions, business rights and extra. PIF, which manages greater than $700 billion in authorities cash, continues to take a look at worldwide sports activities as a serious alternative to diversify its economic system exterior of oil. PIF’s funding into the PFL is the most recent instance of the way it appears to be like to affect the MMA panorama and reap the benefits of a fast-growing sport with an underserved fan base.
“They want to by the point they host the World Cup [in 2034] to have developed MMA in their very own area to maybe have a world champion,” Davis stated. “They usually want to develop PFL right into a co-leader as a result of they consider there could be a couple of.”
The PFL’s capital injection from SRJ has allowed the promotion to make a number of main strikes corresponding to buying Bellator to create one of many largest MMA organizations in addition to high-profile expertise corresponding to Ngannou, who reportedly will earn greater than $10 million from this weekend’s heavyweight championship battle.
Ngannou’s overarching contract with PFL, which permits him to additionally function chairman of PFL Africa, its latest regional league, is a primary instance of how the rising league appears to be like to problem the market chief UFC. Saturday’s battle is an consciousness tipping level, Davis stated.
“It exhibits lots of people who haven’t heard of PFL, would possibly hear now,” he stated. “We want extra consciousness, and the second tipping level is our international growth which is distinct and totally different than what UFC is doing.”
PFL, which is prioritizing globalization closely, hopes this cage battle will drive additional momentum for PFL Africa which launches in 2025, following PFL Europe, which began final yr, and PFL MENA which started this yr. Latin America, Australia and Asia are additionally anticipated to be working by 2026 to develop the worldwide hubs to 6.
Leveraging their rising international platform, fueled by SRJ money, Davis maintains this would be the greatest MMA battle of the yr, outdoing UFC 306 on the Sphere in Las Vegas in September. No matter if Ngannou wins or not, the stage has been set in international vogue and positions PFL to probably co-exist alongside UFC with assist from the Center East.
“This has enhanced us enormously when it comes to our enterprise,” Davis stated.