MMA star Renan Ferreira says he is fighting Francis Ngannou to determine the true and “lineal” heavyweight champion of the world.
Ngannou walked out on the UFC in 2022 without losing the title to pursue a switch to boxing.
Now, he returns to the cage on Saturday against 6ft 8in Brazilian Ferreira in his Professional Fighters League debut.
The PFL have unveiled an all-new heavyweight belt to be at stake between the two in Saudi Arabia.
But as Ngannou never lost his UFC gold in the octagon, Ferreira believes the title for world’s best MMA heavyweight is also up for grabs.
He said: “Obviously, he didn’t lose his title so it means a lot to have this victory.
“It was great to see the belt and I actually got to hold the belt today. The PFL did a great job in making an incredible belt.
“I got to hold it today and to already feel that it will be mine.”
Ngannou, 38, defeated Ciryl Gane, 34, in his last UFC fight in 2022 and was later stripped of the belt after his contract expired.
American great Jon Jones, 37, inherited it in his absence as Ngannou went onto suffer losses to Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua in boxing.
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Now he comes back to the cage, the question still remains who is the best MMA heavyweight in the world.
But Ngannou has refused to be drawn into the debate as he heads into his first bout in the cage for over two years.
He told SunSport when probed on lineal status: “Honestly, I haven’t thought about it. I don’t think about that.
“I’m focused on one thing, which is the fight, the guy in front of me. I think I have my personal fight to fight to be focused about stuff like that.”
