By Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is set to face Renan ‘Problema’ Ferreira on October 19, in a match that holds profound personal significance. Ngannou, who announced the tragic death of his 15-month-old son Kobe in April, will be returning to the MMA cage with the primary aim of commemorating his late son.
Ngannou shared the devastating news of Kobe’s passing on social media, which was met with a wave of condolences from the mixed martial arts and boxing communities. In an interview with Sky Sports, the 37-year-old fighter opened up about his grief and the motivation behind his return to the sport.
“This is not a great moment for me. I need some activities. I need to stay active to be in a zone that I belong to. I also need to keep it going, to fight for my boy, for Kobe,” Ngannou stated. “The past few months haven’t been the easiest. I think it has been by far my hardest moment in life. I lost my son. For some time, I felt like I didn’t even have to do this or question if I should do it or fight again. But I want to do something good in his memory, not to be the reason for me to quit but to be motivation and also to fight for him.”
Ngannou admitted to struggling with an overwhelming sense of grief, describing it as a unique and profound pain. “It’s not that I have come close to retiring. It’s just that in this circumstance, you have different thoughts,” he explained. “You see how fragile life is. You feel hurt, powerless, and useless. You’re questioning your existence, the importance of all of this, or life in general. It’s not that I have considered retiring or something. It’s just that you have to deal with something that wasn’t on the landscape.”
Despite these challenges, Ngannou is determined to channel his pain into a source of motivation. “I think it’s easy to overcome hurdles, to overcome life’s challenges as well is not when it’s your situation. But this is something different, it’s something that hurts your soul,” he said. “I would not compare this to anything that I knew or that I have experienced. It’s completely different. I don’t know exactly how to explain it, but it’s different and all of a sudden you feel like you haven’t been able to do anything in your life. You haven’t been able to overcome everything. You feel the most vulnerable as you have ever been. This is different.”
Ngannou will compete for the Professional Fighters League Super Fight belt against Ferreira, a match that marks his return to MMA. “I just have to find that out by fighting,” he responded when asked if he could switch back to the mindset of an MMA star. “There is only one way to find out, but also I think now I have different motivation in my son. I used to fight for a lot of reasons but I don’t think I’ve had the biggest reason, the biggest purpose to fight as for now.”
Having previously made a surprising switch to boxing, where he floored Tyson Fury in a contentious points loss and then suffered a knockout defeat to Anthony Joshua, Ngannou is now back in the familiar surroundings of the MMA cage. “I’ve been doing mixed martial arts for over 10 years, so yes it’s home. It’s where I’m more comfortable, where I’m used to, where I understand the most,” he said. “Rankings are made by people and yes the sport is moving. I’m not the one to judge, but yeah I think this fight could set as a reminder of who I am.”
The co-main event for Ngannou vs. Ferreira will feature Cris Cyborg, widely regarded as the greatest women’s MMA fighter of all time, taking on PFL two-division champion Larissa Pacheco in a featherweight super fight.
