After defeating Renan Ferreira via knockout at PFL Super Fights, Francis Ngannou has been praised by former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya as the greatest heavyweight fighter in the world.
Ngannou defeated Ferreira via first-round knockout in his MMA comeback and PFL debut, demonstrating his devastating power and demonstrating his continued dominance in the heavyweight class.
Ngannou’s performance impressed Adesanya, who observed the bout intently, especially in light of the Cameroonian-French fighter’s recent personal struggles.
“That was beautiful,” Adesanya said of Ngannou’s win. “I feel that man. That’s for Kobe… Y’all must have forgotten, bro… Flawless, that was a beautiful performance. He took one leg kick and dodged the flurry, timed his right hand and shot for a double, kept him there, and knocked him out.”
The Nigerian-born New Zealand fighter emphasised Ngannou’s resilience and ability to overcome doubts that had arisen following his departure from the UFC and venture into professional boxing.
“I’m proud, inspired, and just happy to watch him do his thing. He’s gone through so much in his career, even still after the whole boxing thing. People doubted him… People are prisoners of the moment, but they forget who this man is… I’m glad he reminded everybody why he’s the best, why he’s the one, why he’s Francis Ngannou,” Adesanya added.
Adesanya went further to suggest that Ngannou may have surpassed Stipe Miocic as the greatest heavyweight fighter of all time. However, he also acknowledged the subjective nature of such claims, especially with Jones now holding the UFC heavyweight title and Aspinall’s rapid rise in the division.
“Right now, people still hold Stipe as the greatest of all time in the heavyweight division; I think he’s one of the greatest. He beat Francis, but then Francis beat him in the worst way. It’s all subjective; it’s all art; it’s all [about] who you like. I think that Francis is the greatest heavyweight of all time, but again, now that Jon Jones is the heavyweight champion, he’s only fought once… Tom Aspinall’s in the f**king mix [too], and he’s only just getting his ball rolling,” Adesanya explained.
Ngannou’s impressive victory in the PFL has reignited discussions about cross-promotional fights and the possibility of facing other top heavyweights.
As the landscape of heavyweight MMA continues to evolve, Ngannou’s performance has certainly put him back at the forefront of the conversation as one of the most feared and respected fighters in the division.
