‘That looks photoshopped!’ - Fight fans react to Renan Ferreira dwarfing Francis Ngannou | PFL ‘Battle of the Giants’

Dan Hiergesell is an expert voice who serves as MMAmania.com's weekend editor, covering mixed martial arts (MMA) for more than 15 years, getting featured on programs such as Countdown to UFC and SiriusXM Fight Club, among others.

Francis Ngannou will be the betting favorite for his return to the cage later today (Sat., Oct. 19, 2024) at PFL: Battle of the Giants live on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) from inside The Mayadeen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but that doesn’t mean the former UFC heavyweight champion won’t be fighting an uphill battle.

“Predator” will be putting his recent boxing aspirations aside when he meets red-hot PFL tournament winner Renan Ferreira in the main event. It will not only mark Ngannou’s first MMA fight in nearly three years, but Saturday will be his official PFL debut. It seems like it’s been a long, long time since Ngannou parted ways with UFC and tested the MMA free agent market, but here we are. Ngannou is finally ready to fight for another MMA promotion and is doing so on the biggest PFL card of the year.

Unfortunately for Ngannou, he may not be able to use his innate size and strength that has already gotten him this far. That’s because Ferreira is a towering specimen at 6’8”, 262 pounds. The Brazilian fighter has finished six out his seven PFL wins by way of knockout and clearly has the natural makeup to give Ngannou issues from range and inside the clinch.

Ahead of Saturday’s heavyweight clash, fight fans reacted to a photo of Ngannou and Ferreira from Friday’s ceremonial weigh ins (replay HERE). For the first time in a long time, Ngannou looked small on stage. Ferreira resembled a real-life giant and fight fans had much to say about the size difference. Check out some of the reaction below:

“Renan Ferreira has a longer reach than Stefan Struve. And he’s athletic enough to do a damn backflip. You don’t see many heavyweights who can do that. After a three-year hiatus, it’s a stiff test.”
“Might make my first MMA bet of all time tomorrow on Ferreira by KO 1”
“That looks photoshopped crazy seeing Francis look the smaller man!”
“The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”
“Huge but can he fight as well”
“Prob gonna sound like earthquakes when the punches land”
“Renan is going to pound the f—k out of Francis tomorrow”
“Either Photoshopped or this guy spent too much time working his arms in the gym instead of proper training and is gonna get smoked”
“You know how f—king big you gotta me to make Francis look small lol what a DUDE”
“BRO if you can make Francis look small you must be a whole ass house”
“This is gonna be the end of the Francis vs Jon talk …”

LIVE! Stream ‘Battle of Giants’ On PPV

BRACE FOR IMPACT! Former UFC Heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou, makes his highly-anticipated return to mixed martial arts (MMA), facing the monstrous (6’8”) 2023 PFL Heavyweight champion, Renan “Problema” Ferreira, for the newly-minted PFL Super Fights Heavyweight championship belt on Sat., Oct. 19, 2024, from inside Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In the “Battle of the Giants” co-main event, the greatest women’s MMA fighter of all-time, Cris Cyborg, squares off against PFL two-division champion, Larissa Pacheco. In addition, reigning Middleweight kingpin, Johnny Eblen, will run it back with Fabian Edwards, while former Bellator Featherweight roost-ruler, AJ McKee, welcomes surging Irish prospect, Paul Hughes, to the upper echelon of the talent-stacked Lightweight division. “Battle of the Giants” pay-per-view (PPV) main card start time is set for 4 p.m. ET on ESPN+ (stream it live in Europe and Canada on DAZN PPV). The “Prelims” portion will begin at 1:30 pm ET and will air on ESPN+ (as well as DAZN).

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For all the latest “Battle of the Giants” news and notes click here.