Ngannou surprises with ground fighting, defeats Renan Problema by knockout and wins PFL belt

Ladies and gentlemen, Francis Ngannou is back! The French-Cameroonian, after almost three years, returned to MMA, had a dream debut against Renan Problem and beat the Brazilian by knockout in the first round. The fight was valid for the PFL heavyweight belt (up to 120,2 kg), an event held this Saturday (19), in Saudi Arabia.

With the result, Ngannou has an 18-fight winning streak and three losing streak in MMA after two losses in boxing. The former UFC champion makes his PFL debut with the belt.

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Renan, however, was unable to show his game in the most important fight of his career. The Brazilian now has a record of 13 wins and four losses in his career in professional MMA.

Ngannou dominates Renan Problema and wins belt with first-round knockout

Ngannou adopted a different strategy than usual and took the opponent to the ground in the first exchange of blows. The French-Cameroonian took him down, resisted a triangle attempt from Renan and landed strong blows from above.

The Brazilian turned to the side, but it was only a matter of time before the referee stopped the game.

'It was for my son'

“I took this fight because of my son. If it wasn’t for Kobe, I wouldn’t be here today. I came here to remember him. The last few days have been tough. (…), I couldn’t think about anything other than my son. It was very difficult,” Ngannou said in an emotional post-fight interview.

Check out the results of the PFL 'Battle of the Giants': Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Problema

MAIN CARD 

Heavy weight (up to 120,2 kg): Francis Ngannou derrotou Renan Problem by knockout (punches) at 3m32sec of R1 - title fight

Featherweight (up to 65,7 kg): Chris Cyborg derrotou Larissa pacheco in the unanimous decision of the judges (49-46, 49-46, 49-46) – title fight

Average weight (up to 83,9 kg): Johnny Eblen derrotou Fabian Edwards by unanimous decision of the judges (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) - title fight

Featherweight (up to 65,7 kg): Zafar Mohsen derrotou Husein Kadimagomaev in the unanimous decision of the judges (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Light weight (up to 70,3 kg): Paul Hughes derrotou AJ McKee in the judges' split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

PRELIMINARY CARD

Bantam weight (up to 61,2 kg): Raufeon Stots derrotou Marcos Breno via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3min01s of R3

Light weight (up to 70,3 kg): Makkasharip Zaynukov derrotou Dedrek Sanders in the unanimous decision of the judges (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)

Featherweight (up to 65,7 kg): Ibragim Ibragimov derrotou Nacho Campos in the unanimous decision of the judges (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Featherweight (up to 65,7 kg): Taha Bendaoud derrotou Tariq Ismail via submission (triangle) at 3min51s of R2