The PFL went straight to the boxing playbook for their newly released Battle of the Giants trailer.
The October card will see the long-awaited promotional debut of Francis Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champ and massive free agent signing. Ngannou is set to take on 2023 PFL heavyweight champ Renan Ferreira, over two years on from his last action inside the cage.
In the interim, Ngannou made the jump to boxing, coming close to defeating Tyson Fury, then being knocked out at the hands of Anthony Joshua earlier this year. That signaled a return to MMA for “The Predator,” who sits on a six-fight win streak inside the cage.
Ferreira, the lesser-known of the two heavyweights set to collide in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on October 19, rides a four-fight win streak, most recently having finished Bellator MMA heavyweight champ Ryan Bader by TKO this past February. Regardless of outcome, Ferreira will reportedly earn a two million dollar payday for going up against Ngannou, something Francis Ngannou himself saw to during his negotiations with the promotion.
Also featured on the Battle of the Giants: Brace for Impact card is the debut of Cris Cyborg, the dominant Bellator MMA women’s featherweight champion who has held gold in Invicta FC, Strikeforce, and the UFC as well. She’ll be taking on Larissa Pacheco, the PFL double-champ (women’s lightweight and featherweight). Cyborg, however, is nowhere to be found in the newly released trailer.
While traditional MMA trailers in modern times have focused on fighters and their accomplishments inside the cage, the Battle for the Giants trailer feels more like a boxing promo, going the “Godzilla vs. Kong” route in this case (or, insert any Kaiju you prefer).
