Francis Ngannou vows not to make same mistake again in return to MMA

Francis Ngannou returns to the cage in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night when he takes on PFL heavyweight champion Renan Ferreira

Francis Ngannou insists he has learned from his mistakes as he makes his long-awaited return to the cage.

The Cameroonian makes his PFL debut on Saturday night when he takes on the promotion’s heavyweight champion Renan Ferreira for the new PFL Heavyweight Superfight Championship. Ngannou has not fought in MMA for almost three years, since he defended his UFC title against Ciryl Gane in 2022.

Since then he has lost to both Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua in the boxing ring but has kept good on his promise to return to the cage. And Ngannou has vowed not to go looking for a KO against Ferreira after that same tactic cost him earlier in his career as he surprisingly lost to Derrick Lewis.

“I’m going to fight strategically and according to how the fight presents itself,” he said. “In my career only once I went for the knockout and it didn’t work out for me and when I did have a KO in the first 25 seconds (against Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Cain Velasquez) it wasn’t planned. Let’s be authentic, I’m not planning for 25 seconds or whatever, I know I have 25 minutes and I will put my game plan into those 25 minutes to win the fight.

“I would say he’s definitely on top of the line but i think, in my entire life, my biggest opponent has been me and i managed to go through that big opening every time. He should get ready. This is an MMA fight so everything will be on display. He might be preparing something because he’s a black belt in jiu-jitsu and he’s not underestimating my punching power.”

Ferreira beat Ryan Bader in February having become PFL champion last year and said: “Both of us came from humble beginnings and have had incredible careers., its a great honour to be fighting one of the strongest men in the world. We are both complete fighters; we can strike and grapple. i am ready wherever the fight goes.”