RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Dan Hardy makes a case for Renan Ferreira being the perfect heavyweight in MMA if he can emphatically beat Francis Ngannou.
Ferreira (13-3) meets former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou (17-3) in Saturday’s PFL: Battle of the Giants (DAZN/ESPN+) predominant occasion at The Mayadeen.
PFL has been selling Ngannou vs. Ferreira as a battle to find out “The Baddest Man on the Planet,” however with UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall wanting unbeatable as of late and heavyweight champion Jon Jones extensively thought of the best fighter of all time, many disagree with that narrative.
Hardy believes an argument will be made for Ferreira if he’s capable of look ranges above Ngannou.
“If Renan comes by his weekend wanting like a world beater, I feel lots of people are going to take a look at him and go, ‘You understand what, he’s 6-foot-8, he’s skilled at ATT (American High Workforce), he’s harmful in putting, he’s received nice grappling and takedown protection since he’s moved there, I could make an argument for him,’” Hardy instructed MMA Junkie. “Jon Jones, for me, remains to be not a confirmed heavyweight. Stipe is well past his peak. I like Stipe, however he’s well past his peak. So, I don’t assume Jones advantages a fantastic deal from beating Stipe at this level.
“The profit from the UFC’s perspective is that the very, very informal followers nonetheless really feel like Stipe is on the high of the sport. … For me, the Jones-Stipe battle, it doesn’t maintain quite a lot of curiosity. Jones-Aspinall, that’s the battle I need to see, and I feel that determines the perfect heavyweight within the UFC. I feel this battle determines the perfect heavyweight outdoors of the UFC. If ever there was a day the place we may see the winner of those two fights face one another, I imply that will be an actual deal with for the followers.”
Regardless of the PFL’s promotion surrounding Ngannou vs. Ferreira, Hardy has a distinct opinion on who’s at present the No. 1 heavyweight in MMA.
“We all know that Francis is an elite-level heavyweight, and I very a lot really feel like Renan is, though lots of people might not take into account him to be proper now,” Hardy mentioned. “Ryan Bader is not any joke, and that was what, 40 seconds?
“And I really feel just like the enhancements I’ve seen in Renan Ferreira’s sport within the final couple of fights specifically, it provides me the boldness that he’s going to have the ability to maintain his personal in opposition to a lot better heavyweights. Tom Aspinall, for me, might be the perfect heavyweight on this planet proper now, outdoors of the dialog with these two guys.”
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