Tyson set to present title belts
Mike Tyson and Francis Ngannou are in Saudi Arabia, a pair of ferocious heavyweights with an eye on the championship belt.
For Tyson, his role is ceremonial. The retired boxing great is set to present the winner of three title fights in the inaugural PFL vs. Bellator: Champs card with a custom championship belt.
For Ngannou, it’s personal. The former UFC heavyweight champion says he’ll attend the bouts to confront the winner of the heavyweight superfight between Renan Ferreira and Ryan Bader. Ngannou could finally make his Professional Fighters League debut some time this year against Ferreira or Bader.
Tyson and Ngannou are on hand for the defining card in PFL’s five-plus year history.
The MMA promotion has churned through Olympic champions and UFC retreads now has its strongest roster yet for its first pay-per-view show that pits Bellator champs against PFL’s champs on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. PFL purchased Bellator from Paramount Global in November in its boldest attempt yet to make a run at the industry leader, UFC.
It’s also the first major MMA card held in Saudi Arabia. PFL is the only organization in MMA with a sports-season format, where fighters compete in a regular season, playoffs, and championship each year.
“We are the innovative, aggressive, disruptive company in MMA,” PFL founder and chairman Donn Davis said. “This sport is very young. It has a lot of room to evolve, a lot of room to grow.”
Ngannou is the centerpiece of PFL’s expected growth.
He was still UFC heavyweight champion when contract talks collapsed last year with the company once the African fighter said his demands for health insurance and personal sponsorships were rejected.
UFC President Dana White stripped Ngannou of the belt in January 2023.