‘Battle of the Giants’ is the name that is given to the clash between the former UFC undisputed heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and Brazilian heavyweight Renan Ferreira, who clinched the PFL heavyweight belt in 2023. Set to take place on October 19th, way too many things are at stake for both the fighters but for Ngannout it’s a chance to get back to the winning column after losing back-to-back boxing bouts against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. For these same reasons, PFL CEO, Peter Murray is utterly excited to witness the heavyweight showdown.

While having an exclusive conversation with EssentiallySports, the CEO of PFL emphasized that they all have been waiting for this clash to materialize for months now, and can hardly contain their excitement. “All the congratulations! We are really, really excited about the October 19th ‘Battle of the Giants.’ This entire card is super packed, and the top of it is historic. I can’t wait for October 19th—I’m overly excited as a fan!” October 19th would mark Ngannou’s comeback to the MMA scene after January 2022.

When asked about what to expect from Ngannou’s comeback, Murray stated that ‘The Predator’ would come guns blazing against Renan Ferreira, “He is the undisputed MMA heavyweight champion of the world. He has taken out boxing. He shocked most people on the planet, with more of combat sports including boxing, and now he is returning to the cage. In boxing, he took on the very best, you know, Tyson Fury and AJ, and this event is no different.”

The former UFC heavyweight ͏ch͏a͏mpion holds one of the best records in the promot͏ion’s history, but since leaving the UFC, he has faced not͏hing͏ but losses.͏ This fight pre͏sents hi͏s chance to prove that he st͏ill has wh͏at it takes͏ to bec͏ome champ͏ion again. It must be noted that this fight is more personal than professional. Why? Let me remind you that ‘Predator’ recently lost his son, Kobe, and in one of the press conferences Ferreira broke the code and went after this wound in the heat of the moment.

He called out Ngannou after he talked about his son and asserted that he had bigger problems in front of him, “Francis has been going through a tough year in his life but the toughest challenge in his life and his year is gonna be me.”

This statement got the wrath of the community but the 6-foot-8 Brazilian later came forward to ask forgiveness from the former UFC heavyweight champion and ascertained that it was not his intention to hurt him about his son. He further added that he was talking about his boxing losses and not the late Kobe. The apology was taken gracefully by Ngannou but will he be going easy on the Brazilian? The answer is a big no.

Francis Ngannou vows to give Renan Ferreira a thrashing defeat

Kobe’s͏ passing was ͏one of the most ͏h͏eart-wr͏ench͏in͏g moment͏s in͏ Francis N͏ganno͏u’s l͏ife. It was such an uns͏tabl͏e period for him that ͏he even considered retiring from fight͏in͏g altogether. However, he soon realized that the best way to ho͏no͏r ͏K͏obe’s memory was to continue his fight͏i͏ng car͏e͏er. One can state that it is his catalyst to perform better inside the Octagon and keep winning for Kobe’s name.

According to Ngannou’s head coach, Eric Nicksick, the motivation is just different for Ngannou, “I just feel like the motivation is different for Francis. Especially when he sees adversity in practice or he sees adversity in a round. I just feel like he has his edge to him… that whatever he is going through in the moment when it comes to MMA, will never be the gravity of what he is going through in his life. MMA things now seem easy, right? It’s like I can get through this because of what I’ve been through in my life.”

After fighting a closely contested match with Tyson Fury and a pretty KO loss against Anthony Joshua in back-to-back high-rated boxing matches, Francis Ngannou’s comeback to the cage has high hopes from the entire MMA community. The PFL heavyweight belt will be on the line as both the giants clash with each other. How do you see this one playing out? State your thoughts in the comments below.