Israel Adesanya has seen enough to assure him that Francis Ngannou is still the true king of the heavyweight division.

Ngannou made a spectacular PFL debut at Saturday’s Battle of the Giants event, needing less than a round to ground Renan Ferreira and knock him out with a series of devastating punches. It was the first MMA fight for Ngannou since he defeated Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 in January 2022.

Though UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones is scheduled to take on former titleholder Stipe Miocic in a long-awaited fight at UFC 309 on Nov. 16, Adesanya doesn’t agree that the winner of that bout should automatically be granted GOAT status.

“Hell no [the debate isn’t done],” Adesanya said in a Battle of the Giants reaction video. “Stipe is the last one I can remember people saying. Well, it was Cain [Velasquez] first and then Stipe, and then right now people still hold Stipe as the greatest of all time in the heavyweight division. But I think he’s one of the greatest and he has beaten Francis, but Francis beat him in the worst way. Again, it’s all subjective, it’s all art, it’s all who you like.

“I think Francis is the greatest heavyweight of all time, but again, now Jon is in there, he’s the heavyweight champion. He’s only fought once at heavyweight, but he’s also one of, if not the greatest fighter of all time. Tom Aspinall’s even in the f*cking mix and he’s only just kind of getting his ball rolling. It’s exciting as a fan, but right now in this moment I am just so happy for [Ngannou] and what he has accomplished and to see him go through it with the adversity he had to go through with the death of Kobe.”

Ngannou entered Saturday’s main event with the heaviest of hearts, having lost his infant son Kobe this past April. He dedicated the fight to Kobe in a tearful post-fight interview, stating that he was only fighting again to honor him.

Following his departure from the UFC in 2023—having never lost the heavyweight title in the octagon—Ngannou signed with PFL and then booked a pair of high-profile boxing bouts. He narrowly lost a thrilling split decision against Tyson Fury and then suffered a knockout loss to Anthony Joshua in his next fight.

When it came time to compete under MMA rules, however, Ngannou went right back to his winning ways.

“Flawless,” Adesanya said of Ngannou’s win. “That was a beautiful performance. He took one leg and dodged a flurry and eventually timed his right hand, shot for a double, kept him there and knocked him out. Proud, inspired, and just happy to watch him do his thing because he’s gone through so much in his career even still. After the whole boxing thing, people were doubting him and then he lost to A.J., people went, ‘Oh, we knew it.’ It’s like people are prisoners of the moment.

“They forget. They forget who this man is or who people are, they’re just prisoners of the moment right now. So I’m glad he reminded everybody why he’s the best, why he’s the one, why he’s Francis Ngannou.”