Francis Ngannou returned to mixed martial arts for the first time in more than a year and a half and added another first-round knockout to his record.
Ngannou knocked out Philipe Lins Saturday night in a featured matchup at the MVP MMA: Rousey vs. Carano event in Inglewood, Calif.
Although no official belt was on the line, Ngannou retained the sport’s lineal heavyweight title when he put Lins to sleep with a left hook late in the opening round.
Ngannou is a former undisputed UFC heavyweight champion who never lost his title via knockout, submission or decision. Instead, he vacated the belt in 2022 following a contract dispute with the organization and the two sides eventually parted ways.
Saturday’s event took place at the Intuit Dome City and was promoted by Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions.
The card was headlined by ex-UFC champion Ronda Rousey facing women’s combat sports pioneer Gina Carano, plus a welterweight matchup between former UFC superstar Nate Diaz and MMA fighter turned bareknuckle boxing star Mike Perry.
The 257-pound Ngannou had a 37-pound advantage over Lins who weighed 220 pounds at Friday’s weigh-ins. The size discrepancy was also noticeable during the fight itself.
Ngannou, 39, debuted in the UFC in 2015 and by 2021 he had the heavyweight title with a résumé that included 11 stoppage wins and knockouts of fellow champions Stipe Miocic, Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos and Andrei Arlovski, plus additional wins over perennial contenders Alistair Overeem, Curtis Blaydes and Ciryl Gane.
The power puncher from Cameroon signed with the Professional Fighters League in May of 2023, however he only ended up fighting under the PFL banner one time when he stopped Renan Ferreira by TKO within one round with ground-and-pound strikes at an October 2024 event.
Ngannou was also named chairman of PFL Africa when that series was launched in May of 2025, but PFL announced in March they were parting ways with the heavyweight star.
Although he hasn’t been active in MMA in recent years, Ngannou also participated in two high-profile, lucrative boxing matches. He went the distance and lost a close decision to Tyson Fury in October 2023, even knocking down the former undisputed boxing champ at one point, but then he was viciously knocked out by Anthony Joshua in March of 2024 in his second pro boxing match.
Lins, 40, was a PFL heavyweight tournament winner in 2018 but went 0-2 in the UFC's heavyweight division when he joined the UFC in 2020, losing to Arlovski and Canada’s Tanner Boser before moving down to 205 pounds.
The Brazilian was on a 4-0 run in the UFC’s light-heavyweight division when he was released by the organization in 2024 and hadn’t competed in MMA since a decision win over Ion Cutelaba two years ago.
Ngannou was one of a handful of former undisputed UFC heavyweight champions participating on the card in some capacity.
Junior dos Santos was featured on Saturday’s undercard against Olympic taekwondo bronze medallist Robelis Despaigne. Also, both Cain Velasquez and Jon Jones were featured on the broadcast.
An Ngannou vs. Jones matchup never materialized when both were on the UFC roster but earlier this week Ngannou was asked about a potential fight with Jones, who has been wishy-washy about his retirement since last fighting in November 2024.
“I think if the condition was right, we could fight each other,” Ngannou said. “He would be the most exciting fight in my career. I think that's the only thing that will be holding me around for a long time hoping, maybe after my 50s, hoping that that fight could have happened.”
