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Francis Ngannou contemplated retirement following his son’s death, but the former UFC heavyweight champion believes continuing to fight is the “best way of honouring him”.
After a two-fight foray into boxing, Ngannou is set to return to mixed martial arts on 19 October, when he makes his Professional Fighters League (PFL) bow against Brazil’s Renan Ferreira in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Speaking at a press conference to promote the event, the Cameroonian said he gave serious thought to ending his decorated fighting career after announcing on X in April that his son Kobe had died aged 15 months.
“I questioned if I should continue or if I should just retire, but I didn’t want my son to be the reason for me to do that, so I decided that I will keep fighting for him,” Ngannou said.
“It’s become a new purpose for me. My son was 15 months old but he was very active, and I had a lot of plans in the future for him, but life decided otherwise.
“I decided to make a positive out of his 15 months of living, to keep going instead of quitting. It’s the best way of honouring him.”
Ngannou was stripped as UFC heavyweight champion in January 2023 after failing to agree a new contract and then signed up for the PFL, which gave him the green light to pursue boxing.
He was contentiously beaten on points by Tyson Fury last October then viciously knocked out by Anthony Joshua in March, but the 37-year-old has not ruled out a boxing return in future.
“I am still looking to have some boxing matches,” he added. “I think I still have a few left in me. Right now, I’m focusing on this fight. I don’t know what will be next after this fight, but I’ll get this one solved first and I’ll see what’s possible, and I’ll make a decision.”
Ngannou admitted he is “very excited” but “also a little nervous” ahead of his first MMA fight since outpointing Ciryl Gane in his only UFC title defence in January 2022. In Ferreira, Ngannou will face an opponent with 13 wins in 19 fights and only three defeats.
Ferreira won the PFL’s heavyweight tournament last year and rubber-stamped his clash against Ngannou by knocking out Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader in February.
Before the pair playfully sized each other up in a staredown officiated by YouTuber and now boxer Jake Paul, Ferreira had words of warning for Ngannou.
“He’s a great athlete, but the cage is the cage, and it’s going to bring other challenges,” Ferreira said. “He has a big problem ahead of him; he knows I have knockout power, I can wrestle him, I can bring him down to the ground, I can knock him out, I can submit him.
“Francis has been going through a tough year in his life, but the toughest challenge in his life and in his year is going to be me.”
