PFL: ‘Battle of the Giants’ results: Biggest winners, loser from ‘Ngannou vs. Ferreira’ last night

Professional Fighters League (PFL) staged its “Battle of the Giants” ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) event yesterday (Sat., Oct. 19, 2024) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In the main event of the evening, Francis Ngannou made his highly-anticipated promotional debut by knocking out Renan Ferreira in the very first round (see it again here). In the co-headlining act, Cris Cyborg defeated a durable Larissa Pacheco via unanimous decision to win the women’s Super Fight Featherweight championship (highlights).

Biggest Winner: Francis Ngannou

After almost two years away from mixed martial arts (MMA), Ngannou made his return to the cage under the PFL banner following a landmark deal he signed with the promotion that offered him the financial support and freedom to box which UFC seemingly couldn’t match. And it was a “Battle of the Giants” indeed because Ferreira stands at 6’8” and weighed in at 261 pounds to “The Predator’s” 256. Despite Ngannou’s lack of fighting time since 2022 in MMA, he didn’t skip a beat, taking it to “Problema” early in the opening round, securing a massive takedown which set up his ground-and-pound attack that resulted in a first-round knockout win for the new Heavyweight Super Fight champion. That is now seven straight wins for Ngannou in MMA, a streak that dates back six years. More importantly, a debut win gives him — and the PFL higher-ups — a huge sigh of relief after the promotion went all in and invested a hefty amount of cash into him.

Runner Up: Cris Cyborg

Cyborg ran into what many called a younger version of herself in Larissa Pacheco yesterday, who proved to be more than a legitimate opponent for the fearsome striker. For five rounds, the two talented Brazilians went toe-to-toe in an all out, blood-soaked war. At times, it was Pacheco who called for Cyborg to take to the center of the cage and exchange. A site never-before seen. Despite getting busted up for the majority of the fight, Cyborg landed several huge shots of her own, used her grappling and overall did enough to secure a unanimous decision win. With the victory, Cyborg secures her fifth major world title in five different promotions — Strikeforce, Invicta FC, UFC, Bellator and PFL. It’s a historic run that will likely never be replicated again.

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Honorable Mention: Paul Hughes

After making his successful debut under the Bellator banner earlier this year with a second-round technical knockout (TKO) win over Bobby King in Dublin, Ireland (see it again here), Hughes called for a step up in competition. And he received just that in former Bellator Featherweight title holder, A.J. McKee. From the jump, Hughes showed the he would not be intimidated and would not back down. In the closing seconds of the opening frame, Hughes landed a huge right hand that nearly ended the fight as the round came to a close. From there, Hughes’ confidence only grew, and he continued to push the pace en route to securing an upset, unanimous decision win. Afterward, he called for a title fight against Usman Nurmagomedov, and at this point it’s pretty hard to deny it to him after improving to 13-1.

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Biggest Loser (s): A.J. McKee and Fabian Edwards

McKee was seemingly one more big win away form locking down a title fight against Bellator’s 155-pound champion, Usman Nurmagomedov. Unfortunately for him, he ran into a hungrier contender in Hughes, who took it to him for 15 minutes. And though “Mercenary” did have some shining moments in the fight, it wasn’t enough to lock down his fifth straight win at Lightweight. With the loss, McKee now has a decision to make: stay at 155 pounds or go back down to 145. As for Edwards, he received his chance to avenge his loss to current Bellator Middleweight champion, Johnny Eblen, which went down a year ago. But the rematch — minus a finish — was pretty much a repeat of the first. Indeed, Eblen used his dominant wrestling to dictate the pace of the fight for five rounds. Sure, Edwards did find some success on the feet in the fourth and fifth rounds, but he couldn’t muster up enough offense to get a win. Once again, a world title escaped him, and getting another shot for as long as Eblen has the strap will be hard to come by.

For PFL: “Battle of the Giants” results, coverage, and highlights, click HERE.