BREAKING
HE’S BACK!
The Return of @francis_ngannou
4⃣
2⃣
1⃣Gigantic night of MMAAdvertisementand it all goes down on October 19th #PFLSuperFights pic.twitter.com/mDHCFd6PBp
— PFL (@PFLMMA) August 7, 2024
Professional Fighters League is going big for its second pay-per-view event of 2024.
The organization announced on Wednesday that the card will be headlined by a heavyweight clash between former UFC champ Francis Ngannou and 2023 PFL champion Renan Ferreira. In the co-main event, reigning Bellator MMA featherweight title holder Cris Cyborg will square off against 2023 PFL 145-pound queen Larissa Pacheco.
The PFL pay-per-view event — which is titled “Battle of the Giants: Brace for Impact” — takes place on Oct. 19 and is available via ESPN+. A venue and a price point for the card were not announced. In both bouts, PFL Super Fights Championship Belts will be on the line.
Ngannou will be making his first MMA appearance since January 2022, when he defended his heavyweight crown with a unanimous decision triumph over Ciryl Gane at UFC 270. “The Predator” is currently on a six-fight winning streak, with additional victories over Stipe Miocic, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Junior dos Santos, Cain Velasquez and Curtis Blaydes to his credit. During his hiatus from the cage, Ngannou tried his hand at professional boxing, battling Tyson Fury to a closely-contested split decision this past October before suffering a second-round knockout loss against Anthony Joshua in March.
Ferreira, meanwhile, vanquished Matheus Scheffel, Maurice Greene and Denis Goltsov to capture the 2023 PFL heavyweight crown. “Problema” returned at the PFL vs. Bellator Champs event on Feb. 24, when he stopped Ryan Bader in just 24 seconds.
Cyborg will carry a seven-bout winning streak into her matchup with Pacheco. The reigning Bellator champion last competed at Bellator 300, where she defeated Cat Zingano via first-round TKO this past October. Cyborg hasn’t lost since falling to Amanda Nunes via first-round knockout at UFC 232 in December 2018.
Pacheco’s recent run of success is reminiscent of Cyborg’s dominance. The 29-year-old Brazilian has won 10 straight contests, finishing seven of those inside of a round. Pacheco upset Kayla Harrison to claim the 2022 PFL lightweight championship, and she followed that up with four consecutive victories at 145 pounds to become the promotion’s featherweight queen last year.
