Francis Ngannou calm, focused and ready ahead of long-awaited PFL debut in Riyadh

Francis Ngannou is a gentle giant whose imposing style as a fighter belies his calm demenour. The 38-year-old Cameroonian has seen it all in a remarkable career and prefers to let his actions do the talking.

The former UFC heavyweight champion makes his long-awaited return to MMA on Saturday when he meets Renan Ferreira for the PFL's heavyweight title in the headline bout of the “Battle of the Giants” show at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.

It's been almost 33 months since Ngannou, one of the biggest stars in combat sports, competed in an MMA bout and Saturday will be his first since his high-profile switch to the Professional Fighters League in May last year. Naturally, there is a huge amount of excitement surrounding the Cameroonian, but the man at the centre of it is only focused on the job at hand.

“I don't need to be excited or jumping around to express how I fight and talk about my opponents,” Ngannou told The National during a tour of the Fifa World Cup Exhibition Centre in Riyadh on Tuesday.

“I don't waste my energy when it's not needed. My thought is that we are here. It's becoming more serious. Even though I've always been serious, you can feel the energy of the fight coming around. Since I landed in Saudi Arabia (last Thursday), you get that feeling of being in the element of the fight.”

As part of Ngannou's deal to join the PFL, which included becoming chairman of PFL Africa and taking a place on the PFL's Global Advisory Board, he was given the freedom to pursue non-MMA fighting opportunities.

He grabbed those opportunities with both hands – literally – making his professional boxing debut against none other than Tyson Fury in Riyadh 12 months ago. A contest that was expected to be little more than a glorified exhibition (the fight was officially sanctioned) almost ended in one of the all-time great upsets when Ngannou sent the WBC and lineal world champion to the canvas in the fourth round and took him to a split decision.

Ngannou returned to the Saudi capital in March for another lucrative boxing bout against former unified world champion Anthony Joshua, although he was knocked out in the second round.

Returning to a day job that saw him become the UFC's heavyweight champion and amass a professional record of 17 wins against three defeats, Ngannou said he is locked in with just a few days to go until fight night.

“There have been some ups and downs during the preparations as always but I think at this point, it's not about preparation anymore, it's about getting your mind set for the night,” he said.

“It is more the thought process now. It's more like you're feeling the energy and then trying to process, trying to imagine as best as you can, even though you would never be able to imagine how a fight can go.

“It’s in your mind; get in that moment, try to be present in that moment. So, I think that's what will happen from now until the fight.”

While much of the attention has been on Ngannou, his opponent will not be there simply to make up the numbers. Ferreira has won seven of his last eight fights, including four in a row with the PFL. The Brazilian's most recent outing was a 21-second destruction of Bellator's heavyweight champion Ryan Bader eight months ago in Riyadh.

“Renan is a very tough opponent. He’s very challenging and I think a lot of people are underestimating him,” Ngannou said. “I have people talking more about him, like he is not a big name and about his talent, but I believe he’s a very talented fighter, more than a lot of people think. He’s very athletic, he's a black belt in jiu-jitsu.

“I think he's by far the fastest and the best striker, maybe the best striker in the heavyweight division globally right now. That's just my opinion, so for me he represents a lot from a fighter’s perspective.”

At 6ft 8in, Ferreira stands four inches taller than Ngannou and has a better reach advantage. At 34, he is also four years younger than the Cameroonian.

“He represents a huge challenge, he's massive, he's very big and very skilled, very agile, very athletic so that's a lot of challenge for me," Ngannou added. "He may not be a big name but he's a crazy fighter. I am saying I'm going into this fight looking at it as more like underdog.”