After a year and a half hiatus from MMA, Francis Ngannou has announced his return, facing off against Phillipe Lins, as the co-main event in the inaugural Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) MMA event.
Ngannou was released from the PFL three days ago, going 1-0 in the company, beating Renan Ferreira via ground & pound in round one.
‘The Predator’ had expressed a desire to fight Deontay Wilder, which never came to fruition, so Ngannou has put away his boxing gloves and is back in the cage.
Francis Ngannou vs Phillipe Lens is the second fight announced for the MVP inaugural MMA card, with Ronda Rousey vs Gina Carano headlining.
Who is Francis Ngannou’s opponent? :
Phillipe Lins (18-5-0) has fought for most of his career at light heavyweight but steps up to heavyweight for the biggest fight of his career.
Lins went 4-2 in the UFC, riding a four-fight winning streak before being controversially cut in March 2024.
Since then Lins has not fought, being away from the cage for a similar time length to his opponent, Ngannou.
Lins has won eight of his last 10, with his other wins coming in the PFL and Bellator before that.
Some of Lins notable wins are: Ovince St Preux and Ion Cuteleba, with both being two good wins against UFC light heavyweight veterans.
However, it goes without saying that despite these being good wins, Francis Ngannou is a massive test for Lins and the hardest fight of his career so far, and at age 40 will probably be the biggest fight of his career.
What is Most Valuable Promotions?
Most Valuable Promotions was established in 2021 by social media star and boxer Jake Paul and has put on 30 boxing events in their short life span so far.
MVP have put on huge boxing matches including: Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua, Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson and Katie Taylor vs Serrano 3.
Also many MMA stars swapped the octagon for the ring under this promotion with the likes of: Nate Diaz, Mike Perry, Tyrone Woodley, Anderson Silva and Holly Holm featuring.
On May 16th the Intuit Dome in California will host MVP’s first MMA event with only the main and co-main event announced.
