Francis Ngannou has dealt with a lot of setbacks this year. He lost his boxing fight against Anthony Joshua in March this year in humiliating fashion as he was knocked out cold in the second round. To make matters worse, Ngannou lost his 15-month-old son Kobe. “My little boy, my mate, my partner Kobe was full of life and joy. Now, he’s lying without life. I shouted his name over and over, but he’s not responding. I was my best self next to him and now I have no clue of who I am. Life is so unfair to hit us where it hurts the most.” Ngannou’s emotional post on X read. But, life goes on, and Ngannou will be making his return to the thing that made him a household name — Mixed Martial Artist.

Finally, the ‘Predator’ will be making his PFL debut on October 19 as he goes up against the 2023 PFL heavyweight champion Renan Ferreira. After bagging two massive paydays in boxing, fighting Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, Ngannou will be back inside the cage for the first time since his contract with the UFC terminated two years ago. Not too long ago, both fighters faced off at the PFL Battle of the Giants’ press conference in DC with Jake Paul trying to separate the two tall and imposing fighters.

Recently, PFL MMA posted a video of Jake Paul reacting to Ngannou’s upcoming opponent. The former Disney star was stunned by Ferreira’s athleticism as he performed a backflip in forward motion. An amazed Jake Paul said, “No way he is this athletic. Ah, that’s a scary man. I didn’t know he could hit a gainer like that.” For those unversed, a “gainer” is a term used to describe a backward somersault while moving forward.

Paul was particularly impressed by the fact that Renan could execute a backflip while being a heavyweight. “A heavyweight hitting a gainer. He is built different.” Thereafter, Paul hinted that the 32-year-old Brazilian MMA artist’s athleticism might cause a lot of problems for the former UFC heavyweight champion. “Honestly, after seeing that, I am a little bit more scared for Francis. I didn’t realize he had that much athleticism,” ‘The Problem Child’ said bluntly.

Just like the Ohio native would have expected, Ngannou will not be taking his upcoming fight lightly.

Back to familiar territory with a “difficult” fight!

Ngannou was on a six-fight win streak when he was in the UFC, leaving the promotion after a successful title defense against Ciryl Gane. After a long hiatus of two years, he will be back in the cage against an impressive 6-foot-8 ‘Problema’ who will be walking into the showdown hot on the heels of a string of first-round knockouts.

Analyzing his opponent, Ngannou has likened Ferreira’s fighting style to that of Ciryl Gane. Furthermore, he indicated that it would be a difficult fight for him. He also noted a couple of Ferreira’s fight maneuvers that could cause him problems.

“As for right now, in my mind, the most difficult one is Renan Ferreira because in terms of style, I think he might be more like Ciryl Gane style. Moving fast and all that stuff. Or even better because he has long, long-range, and he knows how to use it, very fast hands. So he’s different, he’s unique as an opponent, as every opponent is unique.” Ngannou told Sky Sports Boxing.

Will Ngannou be able to emerge victorious in his PFL debut? Or will his long hiatus from Mixed Martial artist turn the tide in Ferreira’s favor? Let us know in the comment section below.