PFL Predictions: Francis Ngannou Returns to MMA Action (Oct 19)

If you’re looking for PFL predictions, you’re at the right place! We’ll now analyze every matchup on the fight card of PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants.

Wonder why this event is called that. It’s because the headliner bout is a clash between 6’4 former UFC champ Francis Ngannou and PFL legend Renan Ferreira, who’s one of the tallest professional MMA fighters in the world at 6’8.

The Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira is the most exciting fight of the event, but we’ll cover others as well, including Cris Cyborg vs. Larissa Pacheco, and more.

Interested? If so, just keep on reading!

Francis Ngannou to Make a Statement in Saudi Arabia

Our Ngannou vs. Ferreira prediction is that this is going to be a real “battle of the giants” as both fighters are bringing incredible power to the cage.

Ngannou is one of the most feared strikers in MMA, who’s put to sleep many elite opponents so far – Stipe Miocic, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Alistair Overeem, etc.

“The Predator” has never suffered a loss by this method, at least not in the world of mixed martial arts. He did, however, get KO-ed in the boxing match with Anthony Joshua, seven months ago in Riyadh.

Riyadh was the place where he made his boxing debut a few months earlier. He lost to Tyson Fury by a split decision, but he didn’t embarrass himself. In fact, he even dropped “The Gypsy King” to the floor, making some fans think that he got robbed.

Both Joshua and Fury are taller than Ngannou and so is his PFL opponent, Renan Ferreira. However, the Brazilian MMA star is nowhere near as good striking-wise as those two.

They’re professional boxers, while he’s got many other weapons in his arsenal. He’s a fine grappler with a solid foundation in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but he prefers to fight standing up. His knockout-to-win ratio of 84.61% makes one’s blood run cold. But not Ngannou’s.

This guy is confident he’ll get the job done. And he should be as he’s levels above Ferreira when it comes to striking technique, but also power and endurance.

Although we do believe the Ngannou vs. Ferreira fight will be a violent affair that fans will remember for a long time, we do think the ex-UFC champ will get a KO win relatively quickly.

Cris Cyborg Making a Case for Being the WMMA GOAT

Cris Cyborg is one of the greatest women fighters ever. She’s got 27 wins in her portfolio, along with one no contest, and two losses. One of those losses happened on her professional debut, which was 19 years ago.

The other one happened to Amanda Nunes, another candidate for the GOAT status in women’s MMA. She beat Cyborg and took away the UFC Women’s Featherweight Championship belt.

Since that loss, she’s undefeated, with seven wins in a row, six of which were for the Bellator title. Now, she’s got a chance to get ahold of the PFL title, for which she needs to beat Larissa Pacheco.

Pacheco is 23-4 with 10 wins in a row in PFL. She’s a very well-rounded fighter with great grappling and wrestling skills. However, her striking is no match to Cyborg’s, who’s famously great finisher. She finished five of her last six rivals, and we think she’ll do the same to Pacheco.

Winning this fight isn’t just about adding another title to the collection. It’s also about bringing her career to an end in a beautiful way. If she wins this fight, she’ll have every right to put a claim on the WMMA GOAT status.

PFL Predictions for Remaining “Battle of Giants” Fights

• Johhny Eblen vs. Fabian Edwards – Johnny Eblen
• Husein Kadimagomaev vs. Zafar Mohsen – Husein Kadimagomaev
• J. McKee vs. Paul Hughes – A. J. McKee
• Raufeon Stots vs. Marcos Breno – Raufeon Stots
• Dedrek Sanders vs. Makkasharip Zaynukov – Makkasharip Zaynukov
• Ibragim Ibragimov vs. Nacho Campos – Ibragim Ibragimov
• Mostafa Rashed Nada vs. Ahmed Sami – Ahmed Sami

BetOnline’s oddsmakers still haven’t come up with odds for fights other than the main and co-main events. Nevertheless, there you have our top picks for all fights, so you’re ready to place your PFL bets once the odds pop up.

We’re confident most of those picks will win, but there are some that we like more than others. Husein Kadimagomaev, who’s a teammate of Khamzat Chimaev, is making his PFL debut on October 18, and we think it’s going to be spectacular.

We also think Johhny Eblen will beat Fabian Edwards once again. He did it a year and a half ago in Dublin, where the crowd witnessed a breathtaking KO in the first round. Although we think Leon Edwards’ brother will do (slightly) better this time around, we do predict “Johnny Pressure” will get a win.

When it comes to prelims, our favorite bet is Raufeon Stots. He’s a former Bellator interim champ who’s looking to make himself relevant again, and the best way to do it is with a spectacular finish.

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