"He's not a name" - Francis Ngannou responds to criticism about fighting Renan Ferreira after Tom Aspinall's comment
Francis Ngannou recently clapped back at Tom Aspinall's disapproval of his decision to face Renan Ferreira in his PFL debut. 'The Predator' is gearing up to face Ferreira for the heavyweight title in the main event of PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants, taking place this Saturday at The Mayadeen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
During his appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show earlier this week, Aspinall stated that Ngannou's current opponent lacks top-tier skills and noted that Ferreira isn’t a prominent name in the MMA landscape.
In a recent interview with Mirror Fighting, Ngannou addressed criticisms regarding his matchup, emphasizing that he is not concerned with Ferreira's reputation but is instead focused on his skills:
"People say, 'You're fighting Renan Ferreira; he doesn't have a name.' I'm not fighting his name; I'm fighting a guy with his skills and talent. I'm facing his talent; he's not a name, and we're not throwing our names out there; we're going to fight. What I see is a challenge, the biggest challenge in front of me."
Saturday night heralds the return of 'The Predator' to the MMA cage after an absence of nearly 33 months. Ngannou's last fight in the octagon took place in January 2022, when he successfully defended his UFC heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270.
Meanwhile, Ferreira is riding high after a stunning 21-second knockout of Ryan Bader at the PFL Champions vs. Bellator Champions event in February. 'Problema' boasts a PFL record of 7-1, along with three no-contests, with six of those victories coming by way of knockout.
Eric Nicksick criticizes PFL's marketing efforts for Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira title fight
The upcoming clash between Francis Ngannou and Renan Ferreira is regarded as one of the most electrifying fights of the year, given that both fighters possess formidable knockout power. However, Eric Nicksick, the coach of the former UFC heavyweight champion, argues that the PFL has not marketed this matchup to the level it truly deserves.
During a recent interview with MMAFightingonSBN, Nicksick expressed his frustration with the PFL's decision to promote the title bout as a showdown between two powerful competitors rather than highlighting the implications of the fight:
"I literally forgot we’re fighting for a title. But it’s like, oh, we get another title fight. You think of a five-rounder or whatever else; it’s like that’s how much it hasn’t been promoted. Like, we know it’s a title fight in the back of my mind, but I had to reassure myself that we’re fighting for a title here."
He added:
"I want to hear that more rather than just about these two giants fighting. This is for the PFL title. This is huge, man, so I don’t know; I just wish it was promoted a little bit better, too."
Check out Eric Nicksick's comments below (11:38):