“For Kobe”: Ex-UFC Star Francis Ngannou Cites Late Son as Inspiration for MMA Comeback

Three year after his absence from MMA, former UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou is making a comeback and this time, he is fighting with a greater motivation in his heart. The Cameroonian fighter plans to honor his deceased son as he aims to win gold in MMA once again.

Ngannou recently suffered an unfathomable loss as his 15-month old son, Kobe passed away due to a medical emergency.

‘The Predator’ spoke to Sky Sports Boxing after the fight against Renan Ferreira was announced for Oct. 19. During the conversation, Ngannou revealed how getting back to training helped him deal with the loss better and how it is also serving as motivation to do well.

“I need some activities. I need to stay active, to be in a zone that I belong to. Maybe that also will help or change, I also need to keep it going to fight for my boy. For Kobe.”

‘The Predator’ has been through some tough times in life from being jailed while trying to migrate into Europe to being homeless in a car park.

However, none of those times have presumably hurt Ngannou as much as the last three months have. He recently revealed in the interview that he questioned life and his career after the passing of his child.

The 37-year-old stated that he was extremely close to giving up and not fighting anymore. But the only reason that keeps him going is that he does not know if his son had any good memories in his mind, and therefore, he wants to achieve things in his memory in front of the whole world.

That said, Ferreira will not be an easy man to secure a win against.

Fereira to play spoilsport

The Brazilian, also aptly named, ‘Problema’ is a winner of the 2023 PFL heavyweight championship and is likely to match Ngannou for power. While the Cameroonian has been compared to a Ford truck by Dana White before their relationship went sour, Ngannou hasn’t particularly had a great time in the ring as of late.

Firstly, he hasn’t been doing MMA for a few years now. And while his boxing bout against  Tyson Fury was too close to call, Anthony Joshua put those title aspirations to rest rather quickly.

So if anyone were to have a chance to get one over on Ngannou, now would be the time.

The former UFC champion will be aiming to get back into the win column against a man who is on a four-fight win streak with all the four wins coming via knockout.

So, smart money suggests that the fight between Ngannou and Ferreira will not go the distance.