Cameroon's Francis Ngannou knocks out Renan Ferreira in MMA return | In pictures news

Cameroonian Francis Ngannou made a triumphant return to mixed martial arts by knocking out Renan Ferreria in the first round of their heavyweight bout at the Professional Fighters League (PFL) event dubbed “Battle Of The Giants” in the early hours of Sunday.

After some early heavy kicks from both fighters, Ngannou, who had not fought in mixed martial arts since January 2022, took the fight to the mat and finally got behind his Brazilian opponent by landing a series of bludgeoning punches, ending the fight at 88 seconds finished eliminated in the first round.

A tearful Ngannou then dedicated his victory to the memory of his 15-month-old son Kobe, who died in April.

“I only took this fight because of him. I wanted to fight for him… I hope they can remember his name because without Kobe we wouldn't be here tonight,” he said in an interview after the fight in the cage.

The event broke with the PFL's usual format of a regular season and playoffs and featured a series of “superfights” with belts on the line as Ngannou returned to the sport in which he made his name after a foray into the world of boxing made.

Ngannou's rise from childhood poverty in Cameroon to the top of mixed martial arts, where he won the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight title in March 2021, made him a hugely popular figure and one of the most sought-after free agents in combat sports as his UFC contract expired.

He then took part in lucrative boxing matches against heavyweights Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, both of which he lost, and his signing was a major coup for the PFL in the fight to compete with the UFC.