Jake Paul looked extremely nervous when facing off Francis Ngannou with his 6ft 8in opponent, Renan Ferreira.
‘The Problem Child’ was at the Anthem in Washington DC as a special guest for ‘The Battle of the Giants’ press conference.
Paul was dwarfed by the heavyweight titanCredit: PFL
He opened up the event by conducting a quick interview with fast-rising PFL star Dakota Ditcheva before handing the broadcast duties over to Sean O’Connell and Dan Hardy for the press conference.
But the YouTuber-turned-boxer returned to the stage at the end of the show, to stand in the middle of Ferreira and Ngannou’s first face-off.
Paul, who is by no means a small man at 6ft 1in and 200lbs, looked tiny in comparison to the heavyweights.
Ferreira stands at a towering 6ft 8in while Ngannou is a giant in his own right at 6ft 5in.
Luckily things didn’t get physical in the face-off, because Paul wouldn’t have been much help.
“I’m not going to lie I wouldn’t have done anything if they would have started a fight,” he said. “They’re very very strong.”
Previewing the fight, he added: “Francis has a lot to prove, he came from the UFC.
“It’s a massive fight against an amazing competitor who has amazing power, amazing speed, is obviously 6ft 8in, and has an 85-inch reach.
“So I’m excited for this, Francis has a chip on his shoulder because of the whole of the UFC and all of the MMA fans will be watching to see if he is the best heavyweight in the world still.”
By the time Ngannou steps into the PFL SmartCage with Ferreira on October 19 he will be almost three years removed from his last MMA bout.
. @jakepaul instant thoughts after being in the middle of TWO GIANTS 👀🗣️@francis_ngannou x @MmaProblema #PFLSuperFights | #BraceForImpact | Riyadh, 🇸🇦 | Sat, Oct 19th pic.twitter.com/9kTSemfIQe
— PFL (@PFLMMA) August 22, 2024
Since defending his UFC heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane in January 2022, Ngannou has endured a stretch full of ups and downs.
‘The Predator’ spent 2022 recovering from knee surgery before splitting with the UFC after failing to come to terms on a contract extension.
He subsequently signed with the PFL in May 2023, although it has taken some time for him to finally announce his company debut.
This is in part down to his transition to boxing but also due to family tragedy.
In April, Ngannou announced the tragic death of his son, Kobe, at the age of just 15 months.
Taking to social media at the time, he wrote: “Too soon to leave but yet he’s gone. My little boy, my mate, my partner Kobe was full of life and joy.
“Now, he’s laying without life. I shouted his name over and over but he’s not responding. I was my best self next to him and now I have no clue of who I am. Life is so unfair to hit us where it hurts the most.
“How do you deal with such a thing? How can you live with it? Please help me if you have an idea because I really don’t know what to do and how to deal with this.”
One month prior, Ngannou suffered a devastating knockout defeat to Antony Joshua in his second pro boxing bout.
‘The Predator’ had caused Tyson Fury real problems six months before with many believing he had done enough to get his hand raised after dropping the then-lineal heavyweight champion in the third round and then pushing the pace for the majority of the 10-round contest.
In the end, two of the three judges scored the fight in favour of Fury, but Ngannou’s stock rose tenfold as a result of his impressive display.