Dan Hardy expects Francis Ngannou’s boxing experience to serve him well against Renan Ferreira, as the firmer UFC heavyweight champion (17-3) takes on Ferreira (13-3) in Saturday’s PFL: Battle of the Giants (DAZN/ESPN+) main event at The Mayadeen.
Since parting ways with the UFC, the Cameroonian boxed twice – a controversial decision loss to Tyson Fury, followed by a knockout loss to Anthony Joshua in March.
Despite Ngannou coming off the first knockout loss of his combat sports career, Hardy says the skills he acquired as a boxer will benefit him against the taller and rangier Ferreira.
“I don’t really think it affected Ngannou as a brand in any way,” Hardy told MMA Junkie.
“So, I don’t necessarily think it will affect him as a fighter in any way, if that makes sense. I think that the time he’s spent in boxing, it will make him a better MMA fighter. …It allows people to manage range better.
“They’re able to step into range to land punches, but not crowd themselves and go into a clinch, and that’s going to be really, really valuable for him in this fight.
“Because I would say that he needs to be close to Renan Ferreira to get inside his reach. I don’t know if he wants to waste too much energy grappling with him.
“I think we will see some wrestling and grappling out of Ngannou. Ferreira’s huge, he’s a sizable individual. Just to take him down and control him is going to be a massive amount of energy expended.
“So, I think Ngannou being able to stay in the pocket and box is going to be very useful for him in this fight.”
Ngannou returns to MMA for the first time since successfully defending his UFC heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane in January 2022.
