PFL Battle of the Giants results: Ngannou vs. Ferreira

6 hours ago

Yahoo Sports

Francis Ngannou makes his MMA return against Renan Ferreira in the PFL Battle of the Giants main event Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Design: Yahoo Sports. Photos: Getty Images, PFL)

Get PFL Battle of the Giants: Ngannou vs. Ferreira results for the Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira fight card Saturday at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou makes his long-awaited PFL debut against 2023 PFL heavyweight champion Renan Ferreira in the much-anticipated five-round main event.

Ngannou (17-3) returns to MMA for the first time since defending his UFC heavyweight championship with a gutty five-round decision over Ciryl Gane in January 2022. Still considered MMA's lineal heavyweight champion, Ngannou shocked the sporting world in 2023 by departing the UFC as its champion and instead signing with PFL. Between those stops, he made two cameos in professional boxing, first pushing Tyson Fury to his limits in a now-infamous bout, then losing via knockout to Anthony Joshua. Ngannou is generally regarded as one of the hardest punchers in MMA history.

Ferreira (13-3, 3 NC) marches into the biggest opportunity of his career fresh off a 21-second knockout of Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader this past February. Prior to that, Ferreira announced his arrival on the heavyweight scene with a trio of knockouts over Matheus Scheffel, Maurice Greene, and Denis Goltsov that crowned him as PFL's 2023 season heavyweight champion and earned the Brazilian a $1 million grand prize.

Uncrowned's new "Helwanivision" also debuts for fans who purchase the DAZN pay-per-view, featuring our own Ariel Helwani, fellow members of the Uncrowned crew, and a few additional friends breaking down all the action live.

For more information on Ngannou vs. Ferreira, check out Uncrowned's How to Watch post for the event.

In the co-main event, Bellator women's featherweight champion Cris Cyborg takes on one of her toughest tests in years when she faces two-time PFL champion Larissa Pacheco.

Catch live PFL Battle of the Giants: Ngannou vs. Ferreira results below, starting at 1:30 p.m. ET.

Main Card (DAZN PPV/ESPN+ PPV, 4 p.m. ET)

Heavyweight: Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira

Featherweight: Cris Cyborg vs. Larissa Pacheco

Middleweight: Johnny Eblen vs. Fabian Edwards

Featherweight: Husein Kadimagomaev vs. Zafar Mohsen

Lightweight: AJ McKee vs. Paul Hughes

Preliminary Card (ESPN+, 1:30 p.m. ET)

Bantamweight: Raufeon Stots vs. Marcos Breno

Lightweight: Makkasharip Zaynukov vs. Dedrek Sanders

Featherweight: Ibragim Ibragimov vs. Nacho Campos

Middleweight: Mostafa Nada vs. Ahmed Sami