Francis Ngannou He revealed the reasons that made him give up retirement after experiencing the greatest tragedy of his life: the death of his son Kobe, at only 15 months old, in 2024. The former UFC heavyweight champion (up to 120,2 kg) opened his heart to talk about the emotional impact of the loss and detailed how he found the strength to continue fighting.
In an interview with the former UFC champion Daniel CormierThe Cameroonian athlete recounted that he completely lost the will to continue competing after the death of his son, caused by complications from a brain malformation. According to Ngannou, at that moment, nothing else seemed important in his career.
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"I didn't want to keep fighting. I didn't want to keep doing anything because I no longer found a reason to fight. I always fought seeking security and a better life."
But, faced with that situation, I felt completely powerless. I couldn't do anything. And I kept thinking: 'What's the point of fighting if I couldn't even fight for my son? What am I looking for?'”, the Cameroonian lamented.
Next, Ngannou recalled the last memory he had of his son before the tragedy, in an account of the moment he left home without imagining that he would never see him again.
"Basically, I could only think about the last time I saw him. I was leaving the apartment to take the elevator, my brother was holding him, and he was crying because he didn't want me to leave. He was trying to come to me. But I just thought I'd be back soon, that everything would be alright."
"These are moments we take for granted. I thought, 'I'll be right back.' After everything happened, I started thinking, 'Where was I going?' I don't even remember anymore. None of that really mattered. I should have just stayed there with him," she said.
Despite the pain, Francis Ngannou He explained that, at a certain point, he realized he would be placing the responsibility for abandoning his career on his own son. That's when he decided to return to the cages.
“I wanted to stop everything. I thought, ‘I don’t need this anymore. I don’t want to do this anymore.’ But at a certain point, I realized I was placing the responsibility for my retirement on him. It would be as if he were responsible for me giving up the fight. And he didn’t deserve to carry that burden. I didn’t need to put that weight on him.”
Then I realized that I should continue fighting, including for him. Since I couldn't fight for him in that other way, maybe I can continue fighting in his honor, instead of retiring because of him,” he explained.
Francis Ngannou's next fight
Ngannou during training. Photo: Reproduction/YouTube/MVP
Francis Ngannou He already has a date set to return to the cage. The former UFC heavyweight champion will face the Brazilian. Philip Lins at the MVP event: Rousey vs. Carano, scheduled for Saturday (16), in Los Angeles (USA).
See below for the MVP fight schedule: Rousey vs. Carano (subject to change).
Full MVP card: Rousey vs. Carano
MAIN CARD
Featherweight (up to 65,7 kg): Ronda Rousey Gina Carano
Welterweight (up to 77,1 kg): Nate diaz x Mike Perry
Heavy weight (up to 120,2 kg): Francis Ngannou x Philip Lins
Lightweight (up to 70,3 kg): Salahdine Parnasse x Kenneth Cross
Heavy weight (up to 120,2 kg): Junior Gypsy x Robelis Despaigne
PRELIMINARY CARD
Middleweight (up to 77,1 kg): Namo Fazil vs. Jake Babian
Flyweight (up to 56,7 kg): Phumi Nkuta x Adriano Moraes
Welterweight (up to 77,1 kg): Jefferson Creighton x jason jackson
Featherweight (up to 65,7 kg): David Mgoyan vs. Albert Morales
Combined weight (up to 58,9 kg): Aline Pereira x Jade Masson-Wong
Combined weight (up to 74,8 kg): Chris Avila vs. Brandon Jenkins
Read More about: Daniel Cormier, Francis Ngannou, MMA on Netflix, UFC
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