There has been some confusion over the status of the PFL Heavyweight title after a recent fight was announced that didn’t include Francis Ngannou.
This puzzled PFL fans across the world, as it seemed like Francis Ngannou was the PFL Heavyweight champion, having held the belt since beating Renan Ferreira at PFL Super Fight: Battle of the Giants.
However, the recent announcement of a title fight between Vadim Nemkov and Renan Ferreira for the PFL Heavyweight belt is taking place on December 13.
Not including Ngannou has confused many in the fighting world ever since new PFL CEO John Martin announced the fight, although Ngannou’s status as champion has now been cleared up.
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Is Francis Ngannou the PFL Heavyweight champion?
Ngannou is not the PFL Heavyweight world champion, as that title is currently vacant and the PFL will crown the first champion on December 13.
Martin announced in a statement that Nemkov vs Ferreira will determine the first man to hold the title, following a change in how the PFL runs their events, abandoning their yearly tournaments to crown champions.
Instead, they have moved to a more UFC-style, having one title per division with the champion challenged on a regular basis.
But what of Ngannou’s title? To clear up the confusion, Martin explained that Ngannou had not won the PFL Heavyweight world title last year against Ferreira, but instead had won the PFL Super Fights Heavyweight Championship.
That belt is not part of the lineage of the new world title, and he explained that it is simply a ceremonial title that may be defended in the future if the situation arises.
Martin wrote: “I also know there has been confusion in the past, like the ‘Super Fight’ title won by Francis Ngannou. That was a special, one-time designation.
“Going forward, those belts may be used only for occasional special events, and importantly, I will be engaging directly with Francis to determine what’s next for him in the PFL.
The PFL Heavyweight world title fight could set up Francis Ngannou’s next fight
With Martin’s comments about Ngannou’s future in PFL, there is a good chance he could return to face off with the inaugural world champion in their first title defense.
Nemkov was courted by the UFC before penning a deal with the PFL, and could become world champion later this year if he can beat Ferreira.
Ngannou has already beaten Ferreira in the octagon, so the promotion will be gunning for the Russian to pick up the win to set up a super fight between two of the top Heavyweights in the world.
Reports claim that Ngannou has at least one more fight on his PFL contract, and a bout to establish the world title is the perfect plan for the former UFC champion.
However, Ngannou has been teasing a boxing match with Deontay Wilder, after impressing against Tyson Fury in his debut before getting knocked out by Anthony Joshua.
Having not competed since 2024, Ngannou’s career is in a state of flux right now, although PFL will hope that he continues fighting for their promotion in this world title fight in the near future.