RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Fight week wasn’t smooth for Francis Ngannou, nor was the fight camp for his return to MMA.
The former UFC champion has experienced a ton personally and professionally since leaving the promotion early in 2022.
Some things were great. Ngannou (18-3) landed a lucrative contract with PFL that allowed him the freedom to compete in boxing, and he did that twice against a pair of champion-level heavyweights. Even though he lost both fights, an event that occurred between the bouts against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua nearly broke him.
Ngannou endured an unthinkable tragedy when his 15-month-old son Kobe died unexpectedly.
For a while, Ngannou struggled to process everything. He didn’t know which direction he wanted to go in life. As the days passed and the healing process began, he found a purpose in competition. Now, he was doing it for Kobe.
While Ngannou found a purpose, the days before his return to MMA to face Renan Ferreira at PFL: Battle of the Giants were not without mental hurdles. He admits there were days in camp when he was overcome with emotions and even questioned whether he wanted to compete during fight week, yet that purpose kept him pushing forward.
“Sometimes, it’s good to just take it one at a time,” Ngannou said in his dressing room after the fight. “Some days are tougher than others, and you just have to tell yourself, deal with this day, and tomorrow you will find out. Even when I came here in Riyadh, I landed on Thursday night. On Friday morning, I had a second thought about this fight because my rib was hurting so bad. We checked at the hospital and it was nothing, it was just a pain, but it was painful.
“Overall, during the camp, there was days that you break down, and get very emotional. You don’t want to keep going and you just give it a shot. It’s all about one foot at a time, let me see how it goes.”
Ngannou’s process worked. He made it to the PFL’s cage 1,000 days after his previous MMA fight, when he defeated Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 to defend the heavyweight title. His return didn’t last long. Just three and a half minutes was all it took to put Ferreira (13-4) out with punches.
“The Predator” is back, and now has a win in Saudi Arabia, where he lost both boxing bouts. However, the location of his emotional return wasn’t on his mind. It was all about Kobe, which he says meant more than his UFC title wins.
“I wasn’t thinking about it like having a win here in Riyadh, I was thinking about it just like a fight for my son,” Ngannou said. “Keeping my son in memory feels more better than everything. Make people remember him.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL: Battle of the Giants.
