Francis Ngannou gave fans what they wanted! Their money’s worth and a knockout win to cap off his PFL debut, dubbed as the ‘Battle of the Giants’. It may have taken him just 3 minutes and 32 seconds to put Renan Ferreira away, but guess what? ‘The Predator’ was revealed to have taken a bit of damage from that fight as he penned a message of sportsmanship to the Brazilian on social media.

The Cameroonian-French star appears to be grateful for the challenge Renan Ferreira presented to him. He won, yes, but Francis Ngannou claimed to have put in more effort than he did before for this fight, which was a must-win one since he wanted to pay tribute to his late son, Kobe. Despite the knockout win, he revealed that Ferreira damaged his leg with those kicks during the three minutes that they battled.

“This journey wouldn’t be complete without me thanking [Renan Ferreira] for being a great sport, an incredible competitor, and for pushing me to go the extra mile every day in the past months—even though you kicked the hell out of my leg,” Francis Ngannou wrote on X. Well, that challenge is behind him now, and now ‘The Predator’s waiting for his next challenge.

What next for the new PFL Superfights heavyweight champion? Well, Francis Ngannou recently dropped the word that he could either box next or come back for another MMA fight. However, it depends on what the PFL wants him to do.

The next fight for Francis Ngannou depends on the PFL

During his recent interview with combat sports journalist Ariel Helwani, he revealed that he isn’t too sure about what comes next after his dominating win over Renan Ferreira. Just like we mentioned earlier, boxing and MMA are both possible for the Cameroonian-French star, but he claims it all comes down to what the PFL has in their plans for Ngannou. However, he’s assured that his return will take place in the first half of 2025.

“I don’t have any hand in that one, I don’t have a decision. I think it also depends on promotion, I don’t know. If next PFL they come up with something with a fight or a date, maybe we’ll work on it. If it’s boxing, same thing,” Francis Ngannou stated. The PFL champion had been out of action from MMA for too long before he made his debut inside the Smart Cage. Maybe he could choose to continue his PFL run now that he’s a champion.

Naturally, ‘The Predator’ has become a much more in-demand fighter since he left the UFC. After his epic PFL debut, ‘The Predator’ received a new fight offer, but it was neither MMA nor boxing. The CEO of Glory FC, Marshall Zelaznik, offered him a fight for the heavyweight title against the promotion’s heavyweight kickboxing champion, Rico Verhoeven. Now, that’s a whole new ball game altogether, but Ngannou has a chance to make a mark in kickboxing and become a two-sport champion, but it seems unlikely that he’ll accept this proposal.

What would you like to see Francis Ngannou do next? Let us know in the comments down below.