PFL's Renan Ferreira releases statement on TKO loss to Francis Ngannou: 'Life goes on, we'll be back'

Renan Ferreira is staying positive despite coming up short in the biggest bout of his career.

The 2023 PFL heavyweight champion suffered a first-round TKO to former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in the main event of PFL: Battle of the Giants – which went down on Saturday in Saudi Arabia.

Ferreira (13-4) gave all the credit to Ngannou (18-3), and assures he’ll come back stronger from this defeat.

“Hey guys, Renan ‘Problema’ here, a bit broken,” Ferreira said in Portuguese on his Instagram Stories. “Yesterday wasn’t a good day at work, guys, but I’m very happy with all our dedication and everything that developed through our work. I’ve always had the mindset of never losing, for myself, to fight any lack of dedication and commitment, and thank God I have a clean conscience. I worked very hard there, showed up well to the fight, and was happy to return.

“Unfortunately, my opponent was superior. He managed to impose a game where that I couldn’t defend the takedowns, which led to very hard ground-and-pound to get through. And that’s it, life goes on, we’ll be back. I want to thank everyone for all the love and support, we’re always together. Hugs.”

With the defeat, Ferreira saw his four-fight winning streak come to an end. He entered PFL: Battle of the Giants off his best career stretch, as he had knockout wins over Matheus Scheffel, Maurice Greene, Denis Goltsov, and Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL: Battle of the Giants.