Francis Ngannou's return confirmed, Israel Adesanya apologizes to Imane Khelif, and more: MMA News Roundup

PFL has confirmed Francis Ngannou's return to MMA for the first time since his controversial UFC exit. Elsewhere, Israel Adesanya apologized to Imane Khelif for making misinformed comments.

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Francis Ngannou to make MMA comeback against Renan Ferreira

Francis Ngannou is set to return to MMA in his next combat sports outing. He will make his Professional Fighting League (PFL) debut on Saturday, Oct. 19 against Renan Ferreira for the newly launched "Super Fights Championship" belt. The heavyweight matchup is touted as the 'Battle of the Giants'.

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This is Ngannou's first MMA outing since Jan. 2022. Since then, he has vacated the UFC heavyweight title, parted ways with the promotion, signed with the PFL, fought and lost two high-profile boxing matches, became the chairman of PFL Africa, and lost his 15-month-old infant son.

Israel Adesanya apologizes to boxer Imane Khelif

Imane Khelif's participation in the 2024 Paris Olympics took a lot of flak from MMA professionals and fans after it came to light that IBA previously suspended her for failing their gender eligibility test. Israel Adesanya was among those who criticized the International Olympic Committee's decision to allow her to compete.

However, in a recent appearance on The Rock podcast, Adesanya admitted that he was misled to believe that Khelif was a transgender individual competing in the women's division - a notion that global media have since thwarted. The former UFC champion admitted his error and apologized to the Algerian boxer:

"Apparently, I got it wrong or a lot of people got it wrong in this misinformation... I'm a fighter, I saw the news or articles and I was like, 'Why they letting a trans person [fight women]' and then I find out later she wasn't actually a trans [person]. So to the lady, my bad. I got that wrong... I'm sorry. I didn't understand what was going on."

TikToker deletes accusatory videos against Alex Pereira

After TikToker Meredith Brown accused Alex Pereira of rape and sexual misconduct in a series of videos, alleged screenshots surfaced online which put her comments in a different light. In the leaked DMs, Brown seemingly was taking pride in the fame she garnered on her OnlyF*ns platform owing to the allegations.

It must be noted that such screenshots can be doctored or even falsely created. There has been no statement from Brown publicly denying or confirming the legitimacy of the conversations.

Following the leak, Brown deleted the videos she shared on TikTok about the accusation. Furthermore, she also deleted videos of herself at UFC 299. Pereira has yet to make any comments on the matter.