Francis Ngannou Expects to Fight Renan Ferreira-Ryan Bader Winner in MMA Return

🚨𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 🚨

𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗩𝗬 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗦 For Saturday Night 👀@francis_ngannou will face the winner of the Renan Ferriera vs Ryan Bader bout#PFLvsBellator pic.twitter.com/4dP9RqYiMu

— PFL (@PFLMMA) February 22, 2024

Professional Fighters League star Francis Ngannou has his sights set very closely on one upcoming bout.

Per Ngannou (17-3) on “Sportscenter” on Thursday, he is eyeing his return to MMA in 2024. He plans on taking on the winner of the heavyweight title tilt pairing PFL champ Renan Ferreira against former two-division Bellator MMA beltholder Ryan Bader. The two will square off on Feb. 24 atop the first PFL vs. Bellator event, which will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the Kingdom Arena. Ngannou will be in the building, and may enter the cage the challenge the victor and face off against him.

The PFL immediately released a statement to follow, with CEO Peter Murray saying, “The PFL is excited to announced Francis Ngannou’s return to MMA in the PFL PPV Division against the winner of the PFL Champion vs. Bellator Champion Heavyweight Superfight between Renan Ferreira and Ryan Bader.”

Ngannou is currently training to box Anthony Joshua on March 8, which will also be held in Riyadh. In his boxing debut, the Cameroon native dropped a closely contested split decision to Tyson Fury, in which he dropped the Brit in the third round much to the surprise of onlookers. Should he prevail over Joshua, it remains to be seen if Ngannou’s plan to return to MMA will come to fruition. As an MMA fighter, “The Predator” has not set foot in a cage since January 2022, when he picked up a decision over Ciryl Gane to unify the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight strap.