Francis Ngannou, despite his successful fighting career, faced his greatest challenge in coping with the tragic loss of his son, which left him questioning his future in the sport, but he ultimately found strength to return to the cage and dedicate a victory to his son’s memory.
Francis Ngannou has won many fights. Yet, the toughest battle he’ll face is one he can only endure, not truly conquer.
Just six months after the tragic loss of his 15-month-old son, Kobe, Ngannou made his PFL debut. On that Saturday night, the former UFC heavyweight champion felt uncertain about his future. Despite years of accomplishments, losing his son changed him profoundly, and he wondered if his fighting career was over.
“It was my biggest challenge because I wasn’t who I used to be,” Ngannou reflected after defeating Renan Ferreira. “This fight was a way to see if I could still do it. If I still had it.”
“Could I handle the pressure, the fight week, the media? We got through it,” he said with determination.
Once inside the cage, Ngannou answered all his questions with a vintage performance. He took Ferreira down early and unleashed a brutal ground-and-pound finish in less than four minutes. This marked his first win since beating Ciryl Gane in 2022.
Overwhelmed with emotion post-fight, Ngannou dedicated his victory to his son while holding back tears.
Though physically dominant, Ngannou admitted the toughest battles were within his own mind before Saturday’s fight.
“It was pretty hard,” he confessed. “From start to finish, you wonder if it’ll ever end. Maybe it never will. You just learn to live with it.”
“I don’t think there’s enough time to grieve,” he continued. “A lifetime wouldn’t suffice. Is it just about pushing forward? It’s a new way of living I must learn.”
Surviving these past six months demanded a strength Ngannou didn’t know he had. He found a way to step from darkness into light.
“They told me I’m tough until I believed it,” Ngannou shared. “Then I realized I’m not that tough.”
“I’ve seen others go through this and tried to understand out of compassion,” he added. “But you can’t truly grasp how it feels.”