Francis Ngannou will make his Professional Fighters League debut against the winner of Saturdayโs bout between Ryan Bader and Renan Ferreira.
Bader, 40, and Ferreira, 34, are fighting in Saudi Arabia on Saturday in a PFL v Bellator Champions event with Ngannou set to face the winner this year.
๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ก๐๐ช๐ฆ ๐จ
๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ง๐๐๐๐ฆ For Saturday Night ๐@francis_ngannou will face the winner of the Renan Ferriera vs Ryan Bader bout#PFLvsBellator pic.twitter.com/4dP9RqYiMu
โ PFL (@PFLMMA) February 22, 2024
The former UFC heavyweight champion has not fought in MMA since defending his title against Ciryl Gane in January 2022.
๐๐ง๐. ๐๐๐ซ๐. ๐๐โผ๏ธ
The Baddest Man On The Planet has his sights set on the PFL SmartCage ๐ pic.twitter.com/Wjxh0mr9qy
โ PFL (@PFLMMA) February 22, 2024
Since then he made the move to professional boxing when he made his debut against Tyson Fury last October.
Widely expected to be easily defeated he outperformed expectations by only losing via a narrow split-decision from the judges.
Next up for Ngannou is Anthony Joshua who he takes on in Saudi Arabia on March 8th.
