Former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou knocked out Brazilian Renan Ferreira in just 3 minutes 32 seconds on Saturday in Riyadh in his first fight under the PFL banner.
Touched, Ngannou first thanked his team before he dedicated the win to his son, who died in April of last year at the age of 15 months.
“I can’t think about anything else but my son Kobe. I wanted to fight for him,” Ngannou said.
“I’m glad I did this for my son. I hope his name is remembered because without him we wouldn’t be here today,” Ngannou added.
The Cameroonian, who left the UFC last year with a flourish thus captured the so called “Superfight” champion belt of his new organisation.
Within the first 69 seconds of the fight, Ngannou brought Ferreira down and bringing him close to the cage he gave him a beating of his life.
The referee had no option other than to bring an end to hostilities, much to the delight of the spectators, among them was Cristiano Ronaldo who was a neighbour.
Retiring briefly from MMA following a turbulent and very public foray into boxing, his teenage passion, Ngannou regained his success by returning to the arena that boosted his career in Riyadh.
The bout was unpredictable for many reasons, including the fact that Ngannou been on the shelf for two years and ten months.
He was also coming from two boxing defeats and a colossal knockdown defeat to Anthony Joshua. But at 38, he is showing the MMA world, that he is still the “champion”.
The once champion of the giant UFC heavyweight division parted ways in a nasty way with Dana White’s dictatorial empire and signed for the rival organisation last year – an action that shook the mixed martial arts world as the dynamite.
In this fight, Ngannou would have received a cheque put by Forbes magazine at “in excess of $10 million, light years away from what he was earning when he was still fighting in the UFC.
