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Israel Adesanya has seen enough to assure him that Francis Ngannou is still the true king of the heavyweight division.

Ngannou made a spectacular PFL debut at Saturday’s Battle of the Giants event, needing less than a round to ground Renan Ferreira and knock him out with a series of devastating punches. It was the first MMA fight for Ngannou since he defeated Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 in January 2022.

Though UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones is scheduled to take on former titleholder Stipe Miocic in a long-awaited fight at UFC 309 on Nov. 16, Adesanya doesn’t agree that the winner of that bout should automatically be granted GOAT status.

“Hell no [the debate isn’t done],” Adesanya said in a Battle of the Giants reaction video. “Stipe is the last one I can remember people saying. Well, it was Cain [Velasquez] first and then Stipe, and then right now people still hold Stipe as the greatest of all time in the heavyweight division. But I think he’s one of the greatest and he has beaten Francis, but Francis beat him in the worst way. Again, it’s all subjective, it’s all art, it’s all who you like.

“I think Francis is the greatest heavyweight of all time, but again, now Jon is in there, he’s the heavyweight champion. He’s only fought once at heavyweight, but he’s also one of, if not the greatest fighter of all time. Tom Aspinall’s even in the f*cking mix and he’s only just kind of getting his ball rolling. It’s exciting as a fan, but right now in this moment I am just so happy for [Ngannou] and what he has accomplished and to see him go through it with the adversity he had to go through with the death of Kobe.”

Ngannou entered Saturday’s main event with the heaviest of hearts, having lost his infant son Kobe this past April. He dedicated the fight to Kobe in a tearful post-fight interview, stating that he was only fighting again to honor him.

Following his departure from the UFC in 2023—having never lost the heavyweight title in the octagon—Ngannou signed with PFL and then booked a pair of high-profile boxing bouts. He narrowly lost a thrilling split decision against Tyson Fury and then suffered a knockout loss to Anthony Joshua in his next fight.

When it came time to compete under MMA rules, however, Ngannou went right back to his winning ways.

“Flawless,” Adesanya said of Ngannou’s win. “That was a beautiful performance. He took one leg and dodged a flurry and eventually timed his right hand, shot for a double, kept him there and knocked him out. Proud, inspired, and just happy to watch him do his thing because he’s gone through so much in his career even still. After the whole boxing thing, people were doubting him and then he lost to A.J., people went, ‘Oh, we knew it.’ It’s like people are prisoners of the moment.

“They forget. They forget who this man is or who people are, they’re just prisoners of the moment right now. So I’m glad he reminded everybody why he’s the best, why he’s the one, why he’s Francis Ngannou.”

TOP STORIES

Prayers. Bellator fighter Daiane Silva remains hospitalized after a weight cut gone wrong.

For Kobe. Francis Ngannou had a lot to prove not just to the world, but to himself.

DMF. Max Holloway questions whether Ilia Topuria understands what it means to be a “BMF.”

Troll. Conor McGregor wasn’t impressed with what he saw at PFL Battle of the Giants.

Props. Jon Jones only had praise for Ngannou’s MMA comeback.

Statement. Anthony Hernandez proved he was on another level with a drubbing of Michel Pereira in the UFC Vegas 99 main event.

VIDEO STEW

Battle of the Giants post-show.

Relive Saturday’s PFL event with MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Jed Meshew.

Max Holloway.

PFL fighters break down one of the biggest events in league history.

Big Tom breaks down the UFC 308 main event.

Countdown.

UFC marathon.

FLAVOR IN YOUR EAR

On to the Next One. The Best Friends Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee guess what’s next for PFL star Francis Ngannou and the big winners from UFC Vegas 99.

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Love.

Respect, always.

Roasted.

Didn’t have Nicksick rubbing shoulders with Ronaldo on my 2024 bingo card.

Wild.

Yes, this is still happening.

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Rinat Fakhretdinov (22-1-1) vs. Carlos Leal (21-5); UFC 308, Oct. 26

FINAL THOUGHTS

Francis Ngannou back in MMA? Just feels right, man.

No one would have blamed Ngannou for taking 2024 off given the awful tragedy he and his family are going through, so seeing him come back and look like his old self, even if for just one night, it was emotional. As excited as we all are to see what’s next for him, let’s not forget to appreciate the moment for what it is.

Take care of yourselves and each other out there.

EXIT POLL

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee or @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and like us on Facebook.

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Professional Fighters League (PFL) staged the massive “Battle of the Giants” pay-per-view (PPV) event yesterday (Sat., Oct. 19, 2024) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on ESPN+, which saw Francis Ngannou make a successful return to mixed martial arts (MMA) with a first-round destruction of Renan Ferreira (see it again here). In the co-main event, Cris Cyborg picked up another world title by defeating a durable Larissa Pacheco for the women’s Super Fight Featherweight title (highlights here).

PFL

Winner: Francis Ngannou

Who He Should Face Next: Denis Goltsov vs. Oleg Popov winner

PFL will return to Riyadh on Nov. 29 for its annual world championships where the promotion will crown six champions and dish out six separate $ 1 million checks. One of those title fights will crown a new heavyweight champion as Denis Goltsov will face Oleg Popov in the finals. The winner will more than likely be “The Predator’s” next challenge sometime in 2025, assuming Ngannou doesn’t pursue another boxing match. Of course, we’d all like to see an eventual showdown between he and Jon Jones, but that will likely never happen.

PFL

Winner: Cris Cyborg

Who She Should Face Next: Sara Collins

Now that Cyborg has entered an exclusive club by winning her fifth world title for a fifth different promotion, she has options. She has already defeated PFL’s 145-pound champion in Pacheco, so she could very well turn her attention to defending her Bellator strap in 2025. And that opponent will likely come against Collins, who pulled off a huge win by defeating Leah McCourt — who was in line for a title fight — at Bellator London last month. Collins — who is 6-0, 3-0 Bellator — admitted that she was a “little scared” of Cyborg, which isn’t a good sign. Still, Collins can learn a lot from Pacheco’s performance because if you punch the bully in the mouth, she will back down. And, let’s be honest, Cyborg isn’t exactly in the prime of her career so this is going to be the best time for Collins to even have the slightest chance of an upset.

PFL

Winner: Johnny Eblen

Who He Should Face Next: Wait and see…

Eblen kept his undefeated record intact, improving to 16-0 by defeating Fabian Edwards for the second time. While it was for the Bellator belt, it was under the PFL banner. As far as what could realistically be next for “Pressure,” that is a bit tough to lock down because no one is really standing out at the moment. A showdown against Jordan Newman seems to be in inevitable since is undefeated at 7-0 with all of his wins coming inside the Bellator cage. But he has yet to face a true, ranked foe or long-term member of the Bellator roster. Aaron Jeffery, Dalton Rosta and Costello van Steenis are out there, but neither is on a consecutive win streak at the moment. Newman has been with the promotion for five years, so now might seem as good a time as any to give him his shot, and he would more than give Eblen a run for his money in the wrestling department as a former NCAA division III champion. All Eblen can do now is sit back to see what’s what.

PFL

Winner: Paul Hughes

Who He Should Face Next: Usman Nurmagomedov

After pulling off a huge upset win over former Bellator MMA Featherweight champion, A.J. McKee, Hughes got on the mic and shot his shot, calling for a title fight against Lightweight champion, Usman Nurmagomedov. And at this point, there really is no point in denying him the bout. Had McKee won the fight, he would have likely gotten the title shot next, so “Big News” should be afforded the same opportunity. Nurmagomedov recently defended his strap against Alexandr Shabliy, so he would be primed for a return sometime in early 2025 since there are no more Bellator event scheduled for the year.

To checkout the latest and greatest news and notes for “Ngannou vs. Ferreira” be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized “Battle of the Giants” fight card and PPV lineup click here.

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Rinat Fakhretdinov will fight at UFC 308 after all.

Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that Fakhretdinov now faces UFC newcomer Carlos Leal at the Oct. 26 pay-per-view event in Abu Dhabi. Eurosport was first to report the booking.

Leal steps in for Nursulton Ruziboev, who was forced to withdraw from the bout for undisclosed reasons, making his octagon debut on a week’s notice. A seven-fight PFL veteran, with a 3-0 record competing for LFA, “The Lion” made it to the playoffs for PFL’s 2023 season, but was defeated by Sadibou Sy. Since then, Leal has finished his past two opponents in the first round.

Fakhretdinov is unbeaten inside the octagon and in his past 11 fights. The 33-year-old recently picked up a hard fought split decision win over Nicolas Dalby at June’s UFC Saudi Arabia event.

UFC 308 is headlined by Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway for the UFC featherweight title.

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