Francis Ngannou advised to take Renan Ferreira 'seriously' ahead of fight

British legend has advised to take his fight with Renan Ferreira 'seriously' ahead of his return to the cage.

Ngannou's comeback MMA fight is scheduled to take place this weekend as 'The Predator' . It's been two years since the 38-year-old last put on the famous 4-ounce gloves. On that night, he defended the heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane.

A lot has changed since then. Ngannou then walked away from the promotion and signed for PFL. However, his official debut for the organisation was delayed after he decided to step foot into the of . The 38-year-old first went toe-to-toe with last year, . He returned to the squared-circle earlier this to take on two-time heavyweight world champion in Saudi Arabia, but suffered a defeat.

While there'll be a few fans who believe ring rust will play a factor in Riyadh this weekend, Hardy insists and believes he's improved massively over the last two years.

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Despite Hardy - who plays a big role in overseeing the development of PFL Europe - remaining confident ahead of the heavyweight star's return, he has issued a slight warning to the Cameroonian ahead of his comeback MMA fight. "I certainly think Ngannou's got to look at him and take him very seriously. Ferreira's improving very quickly, especially since he's moved to American top team," he told Mirror Fighting. 

"They really rounded out his game. Being a 6 foot 8 fighter with the striking skills that he's got, he's going to be dangerous for every single person on the planet. It doesn't matter who they are or how good they are, I would put Ferreira in there against any heavyweights on the planet right now and I think it could be a huge problem for them. 

"The difference here with Francis Ngannou, we know Ngannou's got scary punching power. We know that if he gets his hands on someone that he can manhandle them, but has he been up against someone that's as big and as difficult to deal with as Renan Ferreira?

"Not only is he 6'8, but he can do backflips off one foot. He's able to cover distance like Francis Ngannou was able to. You talk about the Overeem fight or the Rozenstruik fight, the reason why Ngannou was able to get to those guys is because he's so quick off mark. But Renan Ferreira's the same, and he can do it from a further out range because he's got such long arms and legs. And Ferreira's got kicking as well, which is not really something we see a great deal out of from Ngannou. So there are a lot of different issues that Ngannou's got to face in this one. The height and reach, the speed traveling through distance, the improving ground game of Ferreira, and also the fact that he's an unknown commodity."

With 11 out of his 13 career wins coming by way of knockout, Ferreira has established himself as one of the most feared fighters in the sport. Despite winning the PFL heavyweight tournament against Denis Goltsov last year, the 34-year-old put his name on the map earlier this year when he sensationally knocked out MMA legend Ryan Bader in just 21 seconds. A win over a guy like Ngannou this weekend will see the Brazilian be one of the most talked about stars on the planet, believes Hardy.

"Like you saw what he did to Ryan Bader, that was 40-something seconds, took out one of the best best heavyweights that Bellator has ever had. I just, I feel like we've not even seen the beginnings of Renan Ferreira's game yet," he continued. "And look, if he comes out of this weekend successful, if he's able to put Francis away and do it in an impressive fashion, then he's going to be the talk of the town. He's going to be in the conversation for the best pound for pound fighter for the best heavyweights on the planet. So there's a lot to be gained for Renan Ferreira here. And I think that Ngannou is going to know the amount of danger that's standing in front of him and he's going to be well prepared for it.

Hardy will be cageside this weekend and is very much chomping at the bit to see how the blockbuster clash plays out. While he remains tight-lipped when it comes to a prediction, he believes fans will be excited whatever happens in Saudi Arabia.

"What I will say is that I think we've got to expect a feeling out process. I think we might have a couple of minutes where we're all sitting on the edge of our seat waiting for someone to pull the trigger. But I think as soon as that trigger's pulled, it's going to be a barrage of striking until someone hits the canvas. I mean, maybe it makes it out the first round. Maybe we see Francis utilise his wrestling a bit to try and slow Renan Ferreira down. But ultimately, I think this fight ends with strikes. I think we might see some levels from both of these fighters that we've not seen yet in their career. I'm excited for whatever happens to be honest, and I do feel like, especially in this division at heavyweight, it's very much a coin toss, and with Ferreira having the height and reach advantage, I think he can really surprise a few people this weekend coming."

PFL Battle of the Giants: Francis Ngannou vs Renan Ferreira will be available live on DAZN PPV.