October 19 marks the start of the Professional Fighters League (PFL) with a match between the current heavyweight PFL champion, Renan Ferreira, and his challenger, Francis Ngannou, who stepped away from the ring in January 2022.
The event is called “Battle of the Giants” and will take place in Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The winner of the event will become the first PFL Super Fights Champion. The side event is Cris Cyborg fighting the women’s featherweight champion, Larissa Pacheco.
PFL is a competition launched in 2018 that has six weight categories. The winner of each category gets $1 million at the end of the season. The fights are held in a 10-sided cage and abide by the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts except that there are no elbow strikes.
Bookmakers see Ngannou as the clear favorite, giving him about a 75% chance of winning, which reflects in his 1.30 PFL odds. As for the side event, sports betting websites give 50-50 chances to either fighter, which is why they both have around 1.90 PFL odds. PFL betting enthusiasts from Hungary can check out somagyarkaszino.com for up-to-date odds. The website summarizes all four fighters and the bookmakers’ predictions for both events.
PFL Super Fights: Ngannou vs Ferreira Overview
Renan Ferreira gave an interview in June and said that he eagerly waits for the fight with Francis Ngannou. In his opinion, Ngannou is a top fighter, and by beating him, he will also become a top fighter. But, despite being relaxed and smiling during the interview, Ferreira didn’t take Ngannou lightly, saying, “[He will] come with everything he’s got.”
As for Ngannou, he appeared on Joe Rogan’s JRE MMA Show #160 in late July and calmly talked about the fight. He praised Ferreira’s speed by saying, “[He has] fast hands, knees, [he is] very athletic.” Joe Rogan commented, “That guy is dangerous.”
Commentators on social platforms and betting websites are split on who the favorite is. Some think Francis Ngannou betting is a waste of money, while others think it’s a sure bet, because Ngannou will crush Ferreira’s skull. The consensus is that Ngannou is the one who doesn’t have to prove himself and can take it slow.
Francis Ngannou Fighter Overview
Francis Ngannou is a 37-year-old MMA fighter from Cameroon. Weighing 257 lb and 6’ 4’’ high, his nickname is “The Predator.” His biggest strength is raw punching power, with his arm reach at 83’’. Francis Ngannou won 7/14 of his UFC fights with a knockout in under two minutes, with his last fight a win versus Cyril Gane in January 2022.
Francis Ngannou left UFC in January 2022 because his knee got injured and he couldn’t get a good contract, so he decided to become a boxer after returning. He only fought twice since leaving the UFC and lost both matches, one versus Tyson Fury and the other versus Anthony Joshua. In April 2024, he lost his son, which made fans speculate if he will ever fight again. Francis Ngannou betting has to take into account his mental state and also his motivation, which are more important than his physical condition.
In an interview he gave in early August 2024, Ngannou admitted to only getting back to training “like, a month and a half ago.” However, his post-operation Instagram update said he did not damage the meniscus, which means his knee should be fully fit for the Ferreira fight. The reason why Francis signed up with the PFL is because they offered him better conditions that treated him and his opponents fairly.
Renan Ferreira Fighter Overview
Renan Ferreira is a 34-year-old Brazilian fighter who has been fighting since 2016. Weighing 265 lbs and 6’ 8’’ high, he is nicknamed “Problema.” His biggest strength is his arm reach, measuring at 85’’, with his leg reach at 48’’.
Renan Ferreira’s last fight was on February 24 versus the 41-year-old Ryan Bader in PFL, where he won by knockout in round 1. The fight lasted only 21 seconds, with Ryan Bader collapsing after the first punch. Ferreira took the microphone after the fight and called out Ngannou who was sitting by the cage, saying, “I am the champion.” Ngannou left before the two could have a face-off. In a match prior to that, versus Goltsov in November 2023, the fight ended with Ferreira’s win in the second round.
The sports betting odds on Renan Ferreira generally put him as a slight favorite because of his impressive track record. Versus Bader, bookmakers offered 1.75 odds on Ferreira. However, the money line odds on Ferreira versus Goltsov were 2.70. Across the last five fights, Ferreira has 4 knockout or technical knockout wins and one No Contest win. However, commentators on sports gambling websites say that those wins weren’t high-quality wins and might give Ferreira a false sense of confidence.
According to insider rumors, Renan Ferreira should get at least $2 million from the fight versus Ngannou, whether he wins or loses. That was a part of the contract Ngannou asked for to participate in the PFL.
Ngannou vs Ferreira Bookmaker Estimates
The two fighters are coming into this match with different mindsets, which affects the sports odds. Ngannou has achieved his dreams. The two boxing matches he lost after he came back set him up financially for life. On the other hand, Ferreira is hungry for a win and wants to prove himself as a top fighter. That could mean he will rush to end the fight as soon as possible.
In terms of power, both fighters are even. Sports betting odds assume Ngannou will get a couple of clean punches in at the start. If that happens, Ferreira will probably get knocked out, but if he manages to hold out for one round, he has a chance to fight back.
Bookmakers only allow money line bets on this fight, meaning who will win. Other options, such as over under, will be finalized as fight day comes closer. One bookmaker that runs PFL sports betting is MostBet, an online betting website founded in 2009 in Curacao. MostBet operates in 93 countries and has over 1 million registered players that make more than 800,000 bets a day. Here are some odds from MostBet and other PFL bookmakers:
- MostBet: Ngannou win @1.31, Ferreira win @3.3
- BetWinner: Ngannou win @1.31, Ferreira win @3.305
- Sol Casino: Ngannou win @1.28, Ferreira win @3.25
- Joy Casino: Ngannou win @1.29, Ferreira win @3.3
- Jet Casino: Ngannou win @1.28, Ferreira win @3.25
- 0xBet: Ngannou win @1.31, Ferreira win @3.45
Sports betting enthusiasts are not sure Ngannou will win easily, but they do say Ferreira is not a well-rounded fighter and will struggle against someone who knows how to defend. They also say Ferreira has trouble with grappling and offensive wrestling and that his strikes are very sloppy.
PFL Super Fights: Cris Cyborg vs Larissa Pacheco
The Battle of the Giants’ side event features two women MMA fighters who are evenly matched, at least according to the sports betting odds. The one is Cristiane Justino, aka Cris Cyborg, and the other is Larissa Pacheco, both Brazilians with a near-perfect fighting record.
Cris Cyborg is seen as the greatest woman MMA fighter in the sport’s history, with a track record spanning almost 20 years. Her opponent, Larissa Pacheco, is an excellent MMA fighter who has won against the MMA greats such as Julia Budd and is on a 10-win streak.
Cris Cyborg Fighter Overview
Cris is a 39-year-old weighing 155 lbs and 5’ 8’’ high. Her arm reach is 68’’. She has been fighting professionally since 2005, boasting an impressive fight record with 27 wins, 2 losses, and 1 No Contest. The last time she lost was versus Amanda Nunes in December 2018. In that fight, we could see how Cris Cyborg can lose control over her emotions, causing her to get knocked out. That’s why online bookies aren’t marking her as a clear favorite.
Cris Cyborg fight style is one of aggressively attacking her opponents, but she is not used to getting punched back. When that happens, she gets desperate and starts swinging wildly to intimidate her opponent. A fighter who can provoke her and wait for the right moment can then start punching and kicking her with little worry. That’s what happened to her in the Nunes fight, ending the Cris Cyborg UFC unbeatable streak.
Larissa Pacheco Fighter Overview
Larissa Pacheco is a 29-year-old weighing 146 lbs and standing 5’ 6’’ tall. She is the 2022 lightweight and the 2023 featherweight champion in the PFL. Her arm reach is 69’’. Larissa Pacheco has been fighting professionally since 2014. She has 23 wins and 4 losses in her career. In her most recent fight, she won against Marina Mokhnatkina in November 2023.
Larissa likes grappling, but that would be ill-advised versus Cris Cyborg, who has a black belt in jiu-jitsu. She also has boxing skills that she brought over to MMA, giving her a versatile move set and a lot of power in both kicks and punches that make her opponents run away from her.
Cris Cyborg vs Larissa Pacheco Bookmaker Estimates
Betting websites expect this fight to be a close one. Cris is prone to losing her cool and blindly charging at the opponent. Larissa tends to be too cautious and doesn’t press the advantage, which led to Marina putting her in a surprise knee bar during their fight.
For now, the boxing odds on this fight only let you bet on the final outcome. But, as the fight date approaches, we are sure to get more choices for online betting. Here are the match odds from some bookmakers that offer women’s PFL sports betting:
- MostBet: Cyborg win @1.87, Pacheco win @1.87
- BetWinner: Cyborg win @1.87, Pacheco win @1.87
- Sol Casino: Cyborg win @1.84, Pacheco win @1.84
- Joy Casino: Cyborg win @1.89, Pacheco win @1.85
- Jet Casino: Cyborg win @1.84, Pacheco win @1.84
- 0xBet: Cyborg win @1.90, Pacheco win @1.90