"October 19 I'm going to fight for a greater purpose" - Francis Ngannou releases statement after Renan Ferreira fight announcement
Francis Ngannou is making his return to the world of mixed martial arts and has addressed the public since his reintegration into the sport became official. 'The Predator' will again don the small gloves after a two-fight stint in boxing as he takes on PFL's top heavyweight.
Renan Ferreira is the heavyweight king of the PFL, who stopped Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader in a matter of seconds during his last outing.
The PFL will be stepping into the pay-per-view game with an event that boasts the tagline 'Battle of the Giants'. The company has long discussed its concept for the PFL Super Fights division and the return of the lineal MMA heavyweight champion to the sport is certainly the most attention-grabbing way that it can encroach into the PPV market.
The man who never lost his UFC heavyweight title inside the cage made a statement to the mixed martial arts world on his personal Instagram account when Ngannou stated:
"All my life I've fought for a lot of different purposes and on October 19 I'm going to fight for a greater purpose #battleofgiants #braceforimpact"
Check out Francis Ngannou's initial comments before his PFL debut below:
Francis Ngannou and the journey of the Lineal MMA heavyweight championship
Francis Ngannou will find himself part of a unique tradition over the years that has seen the lineal MMA heavyweight title travel across multiple promotions both inside and outside of the UFC. The journey of the lineal title began when Randy Couture left the UFC as their reigning heavyweight champion but dropped that lineal strap to Enson Inoue in October 1998.
The championship would then journey through Pride FC with Inoue dropping this distinction to Mark Kerr. This took place early in the 2000 Pride openweight grand prix and the lineal crown would bounce around multiple times in the tournament to Kazuyuki Fujita as well as Mark Coleman.
The lineal title would switch hands under the Pride FC banner from Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to Fedor Emelianenko with the latter carrying the distinction through Bodog Fight, Affliction, and Strikeforce after Pride folded.
The lineal MMA heavyweight title would change hands under the Strikeforce banner to Fabricio Werdum and Alistair Overeem with the latter bringing the lineal MMA title distinction back through the UFC after many years.
This conceptual championship would then go to Antonio 'Bigfoot' Silva with the distinction then being unified with the UFC belt with Cain Velasquez claiming this crown. The lineal belt has largely been interwoven into their heavyweight title since.
With Ngannou having left the UFC after defending his heavyweight crown against Ciryl Gane, he joins a rich tradition of carrying the lineal MMA heavyweight championship to a promotion outside of the UFC bubble when he faces Ferreira in the Fall.