Led by Francis Ngannou, ‘Enhanced’ Saudi-Backed PFL Card Rivals UFC

Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou returns to the cage for the first time in nearly three years when he makes his Professional Fighters League debut Saturday night against Renan Ferreira.

Ngannou’s return to mixed martial arts after a stop in the world of boxing marks a pivotal moment for him to silence his haters and naysayers, but it’s also a chance for the PFL to prove that it is a top MMA promotion with help from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Highlighted by the main card, the “Battle of the Giants” event in the capital city of Riyadh draws attention to the more than $100 million minority stake transaction made last year by SRJ Sports Investments, a sports-focused fund launched by PIF last year. While Ngannou looks to prove that he made the right decision to leave UFC for the PFL, the highly anticipated fight also shows the PIF money at work on a global stage as it uplifts the second-biggest MMA promotion.

“We needed enough capital to take the business to where we’ve been able to take it to,” PFL co-founder Donn Davis said in an interview. “We had great ideas but not enough capital to implement those ideas.”

SRJ, pronounced “surge,” was established to accelerate growth of the sports sector in Saudia Arabia and MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) through intellectual property from major sporting events, commercial rights and more. PIF, which manages more than $700 billion in government money, continues to look at international sports as a major opportunity to diversify its economy outside of oil. PIF’s investment into the PFL is the latest example of how it looks to influence the MMA landscape and take advantage of a fast-growing sport with an underserved fan base.

“They would like to by the time they host the World Cup [in 2034] to have developed MMA in their own region to perhaps have a world champion,” Davis said. “And they would like to grow PFL into a co-leader because they believe there can be more than one.”

The PFL’s capital injection from SRJ has allowed the promotion to make several major moves such as acquiring Bellator to create one of the largest MMA organizations as well as high-profile talent such as Ngannou, who reportedly will earn more than $10 million from this weekend’s heavyweight championship fight.

Ngannou’s overarching contract with PFL, which allows him to also serve as chairman of PFL Africa, its newest regional league, is a prime example of how the emerging league looks to challenge the market leader UFC. Saturday’s fight is an awareness tipping point, Davis said.

“It shows a lot of people who haven’t heard of PFL, might hear now,” he said. “We need more awareness, and the second tipping point is our global expansion which is distinct and different than what UFC is doing.”

PFL, which is prioritizing globalization heavily, hopes this cage fight will drive further momentum for PFL Africa which launches in 2025, following PFL Europe, which started last year, and PFL MENA which began this year. Latin America, Australia and Asia are also expected to be operating by 2026 to grow the international hubs to six.

Leveraging their growing global platform, fueled by SRJ cash, Davis maintains this will be the biggest MMA fight of the year, outdoing UFC 306 at the Sphere in Las Vegas in September. Regardless of if Ngannou wins or not, the stage has been set in global fashion and positions PFL to potentially co-exist alongside UFC with help from the Middle East.

“This has enhanced us greatly in terms of our business,” Davis said.