‘The best way to pay tribute to him’: Francis Ngannou on his return to MMA following the death of his 15-month-old son

(CNN) — It’s with a renewed sense of purpose in life and a truly heavy heart that former UFC champion Francis Ngannou makes his eagerly awaited return to an MMA cage this weekend in Saudi Arabia.

The Cameroonian will make his Professional Fighters League debut against heavyweight champion Renan Ferreira in Saturday’s Super Fight title in Riyadh.

Ngannou will do so though against a backdrop of unspeakable tragedy following the death earlier this year of his beloved 15-month-old son Kobe.

“The best way to pay tribute to him, to honor him, is to do something positive. To keep staying active because that’s the best way to pay tribute to him instead of just quit because, if I stop fighting, that would have been like quitting,” Ngannou told CNN Sport. “It wasn’t a time for me to retire, to stop fighting.

“(He was) a brave guy. He came as a king and he left as a king. He was just something special. For some reason, he couldn’t live longer. I had to look at him so many times and was impressed. I couldn’t believe he was from me. He was the best thing that could be in me.”

Inspired and motivated by the memory of his son, the man who once had the hardest ever recorded punch in UFC history now has Ferreira in his sights, looking to build on his record of just three defeats in 20 mixed martial arts contests. Twelve of his 17 wins have come by way of knockout.

This will be the African star’s first MMA fight since 2022. Over the last couple of years, Ngannou switched over to the sweet science: boxing. Late last year, he suffered a controversial defeat on points to Tyson Fury – despite flooring the Englishman in one round – while earlier in 2024, he was knocked out by Fury’s compatriot Anthony Joshua.

“I’m looking to get back into MMA because, regardless of how I enjoy boxing, I do miss MMA. It’s time to get back,” the heavyweight revealed as he looked ahead to his duel with his Brazilian opponent, who has 13 victories with 11 knockouts.

“He’s a very dangerous opponent just as everybody is a dangerous opponent. All those people I’ve fought before. It’s just about finding your way. Getting your strategy right. Getting your game plan right to overcome. He’s dangerous, but I strongly believe that I’m more dangerous than him. I think I have the best motivation. I’m the best in this game.”

Ngannou’s courageous journey to the very pinnacle of his sport is beyond inspiring. Growing up in Cameroon, he worked in a sand mine at just 10 years of age to help support his family. Raised by a single mother, it was a daily battle against poverty. He describes his childhood as “tough and very challenging” yet also one that fortified him for life experiences to come.

“And then I found myself in the position that I wasn’t worried about anything, you know. I felt like I was prepared for everything and that’s the moment that I realized that my past has been for so long the best thing that ever happened to me,” Ngannou reflected as he shared details on his remarkable life story.

In 2012 came a life-changing turning point: Ngannou made the momentous decision to leave behind family, friends and his homeland. An epic, year-long journey would follow, a trek plagued by perils across multiple countries and continents, yet one also fueled by hopes of a better life. His goal, perhaps one day, was to realize the dream of a professional combat sports career in America.

The journey took him thousands of miles across land, mountain and sea before his ultimate arrival in Paris. Along the way, he spent time living in forests where hunger was an ever-present reality.

“When you’re in the surviving mode, you do everything that it takes. Whether it’s finding food in the trash, you find food in the trash where needed. Whether it’s drinking dirty water from a potential water well, you drink it to survive,” Ngannou said.

“We were putting ourselves physically at risk, whether it’s on the barbed wire to try to cross the fence or whether it’s to cross the ocean and get to Spain,” he added.

Despite being unable to swim, Ngannou tried to cross the Strait of Gibraltar six times on an inflatable raft. All six attempts ended in failure, though quitting was never on the table.

“It was my ego of thinking this way that was keeping me going,” he said. “Some people will go back because they have somewhere to go back to. But some, they don’t because that’s their only option. They don’t have a plan B. When your only plan is a plan A, you give everything for your plan and you take a lot of risk.”

At the seventh attempt, Ngannou’s patience and perseverance were finally rewarded as the Red Cross ultimately took both he and the group he was leading to safety on April 3, 2013 – remarkably, exactly one year from the day he’d left his homeland. But what followed next, he says – a two-month incarceration in an immigration detention center – was disturbing psychologically.

“It was very heavy to carry. You get to the point that maybe they should have just let me go back,” Ngannou recalled. “You realize that when you were even in the forest, you were free. But you are locked in this box. It was tough but a good transition from where we were. It was quite different.”

Ngannou would eventually make it to Paris where he would again endure hardship as he was homeless and forced to sleep in a parking lot. The Cameroonian’s spirit, however, would never be broken. He found a local gym – telling the owner at the time, “I have no money, I have nothing, but I want to be a world champion” – and it was there he was given hope and an introduction to MMA.

It was the very start of his pathway to Ultimate Fighting Championship glory. Eight years later, this incredible rags-to-riches, Hollywood-style story would eventually see an American dream fulfilled in March 2021 when Ngannou defeated Stipe Miocic to become UFC heavyweight champion.

Ngannou and the UFC would eventually part ways and his dalliance with boxing soon came, but it may well also be in his future again – possibly as soon as after this upcoming fight with Ferreira. “Boxing for me is unfinished business,” said the man whose mantra is always to live by a “I’m going to conquer the world” mindset.

“It’s what’s always kept me going. My motivation, my determination, my dedication. You can take everything from me now but that you will never take it out of me. You will never take my dream,” he added.

Wherever he goes from here, we can be sure of one thing: for Francis Ngannou, quitting will never be an option.

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