Francis Ngannou is becoming a member of one of many largest occasions of the summer season. The former UFC heavyweight champion is about to make his MMA return on May 16 at Los Angeles’ Intuit Dome, preventing within the five-round co-main occasion of MVP’s historic Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano event on Netflix.
Ngannou’s first MMA bout since October 2024 will come against Philipe Lins (18-5), a 40-year-old former PFL heavyweight event champion and UFC veteran who has been out of motion since exiting the latter promotion on a four-fight win streak in March 2024.
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Ngannou (18-3) parted ways with the PFL this previous Friday, ending a much-ballyhooed partnership that started in early 2023 however in the end noticed “The Predator” compete for PFL simply as soon as. Ngannou, 39, had one fight remaining on his PFL deal on the time of his departure, although his contract was set to run out within the coming months and his choice to go away was a mutual one with the promotion.
Despite his inactivity lately, Ngannou remains to be broadly thought-about one of many prime heavyweights in MMA. He captured the UFC heavyweight title in 2021 with a highlight-reel knockout of Stipe Miocic, then efficiently defended his belt against Ciryl Gane regardless of tearing a number of ligaments in his knee simply weeks out from the fight. In whole, Ngannou put collectively a sterling 12-2 document throughout his Octagon tenure, with each win however the Gane bout ending in vicious stoppages.
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Ngannou shocked the MMA world in January 2023 by departing the UFC as its reigning heavyweight champion — an unprecedented growth within the UFC’s fashionable period, and one which positioned Ngannou as probably the most coveted free brokers within the sport’s historical past. Ngannou then signed a profitable, wide-ranging cope with PFL that included fairness within the promotion, a management place because the chairman of PFL’s Africa initiative, and a task on PFL’s advisory board to characterize the athlete’s pursuits.
Yet Ngannou in the end fought solely as soon as for the PFL, incomes a first-round knockout of heavyweight event champion Renan Ferreira in late 2024. Prior to that, the Cameroon native additionally competed in skilled boxing twice, shedding to prime heavyweights Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua over a six-month span in 2023-24 whereas below PFL contract.
Ngannou famously knocked down Tyson Fury regardless of having no prior expertise in skilled boxing.
(Justin Setterfield by way of Getty Images)
Lins received the $1 million grand prize in 2018’s PFL heavyweight event with an underdog run of wins over Alex Nicholson, Caio Alencar, Jared Rosholt and Josh Copeland. Lins then signed with the UFC and misplaced back-to-back bouts to Andrei Arlovski and Tanner Boser, earlier than dropping all the way down to mild heavyweight and rattling off 4 consecutive victories over the likes of Ovince Saint Preux and Ion Cutelaba.
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Lins was not re-signed by the UFC following the completion of his contract regardless of his win streak.
Ngannou and Lins now be a part of a Rousey vs. Carano card that doubles because the maiden voyage into MMA for each Netflix and Jake Paul’s promotional firm, MVP.
Rousey, 39, is among the largest stars within the historical past of the game, whereas Carano, 43, is a fellow pioneer of girls’s MMA. The two trailblazers may have been away from the cage for a mixed 25 years by the point May 16 rolls round.
