Francis Ngannou will return to MMA competition in May. | PFL
MMA
It didn’t take long for Francis
Ngannou to find a new home.
The former
UFC heavyweight champion will return to MMA competition when he
faces Philipe
Lins in the co-main event of a
Most Valuable Promotions card on Netflix on May 16. The card
takes place at the Intuit Center in Los Angeles and is headlined by
a women’s featherweight clash between Ronda
Rousey and Gina
Carano.
Ngannou was released from his
Professional Fighters League contract late last week. The
Cameroonian-born Frenchman competed once for PFL in three years,
knocking out Renan
Ferreira at the “Battle of the Giants” in October 2024. Ngannou
has won his last seven MMA appearances — six of which came under
the UFC banner. “The Predator” has also competed twice in
professional boxing since parting ways with the UFC in 2023, losing
a decision to Tyson Fury
and suffering a knockout loss against Anthony
Joshua. He owns notable wins over the likes of Ciryl Gane,
Stipe
Miocic, Junior dos
Santos, Cain
Velasquez, Curtis
Blaydes, Alistair
Overeem and Andrei
Arlovski.
Ready for a New Chapter
”While the world was busy talking, I was busy evolving,” Ngannou
said in a release. “Silence shouldn’t be mistaken for absence—it’s
the sound of a predator closing the distance. Stepping back into
the cage isn’t just a return; it’s a reclamation. My return to MMA
demanded a stage that matched the scale of my ambition, and
partnering with MVP to bring this event to Netflix ensures the
entire world is watching. I am ready for this new chapter, and I
cannot wait to entertain my fans again and remind the world exactly
who I am and what I am capable of delivering on a highest
stage.”
Lins, meanwhile, exited the UFC on a four-bout winning streak. He
most recently competed at light heavyweight and is coming off a
unanimous decision win over Ion
Cutelaba in March 2024. The 40-year-old Brazilian won the PFL
heavyweight title in 2018 by stopping Josh
Copeland via fourth-round technical knockout.
The two baddest MMA heavyweight champions in
the world are Francis
Ngannou and Jon Jones. 1
of them is now fighting on Saturday May 16th live on Netlfix. The
lineal MMA heavyweight champion of the world Francis
Ngannou vs Brazil’s Philipe
Lins + Rousey vs Carano pic.twitter.com/QaFDqwmhWg— Jake
Paul (@jakepaul)
March 9, 2026