Fighting in his son’s honor, Ngannou authors smashing return to MMA

On Saturday night, in his highly publicized return to MMA at the PFL Battle of the Giants event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, heavyweight Francis Ngannou, 38, authored a stunning first round knockout victory over Renan Ferreira.

Francis Ngannou upheld his stance as one of the hardest hitters on the planet last week, returning to MMA in his Professional Fighters League debut. Formerly known as the UFC Heavyweight Champion, whose punch is as forceful as a Ford Escort at 96 horsepower, it only took one round for Ngannou to secure a TKO against his opponent, Renan Ferreira, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the PFL Battle of the Giants.

Heavyweight champion of the world is a title that only 17 men have held in UFC history. And each one of those men fight to protect their throne with every ounce of energy they have. The UFC, in fact, has held a dominant reign over fight promotions for decades, making their belt the one most fighters chase as an end goal for their career. Ngannou, however, is different.

Tension between Ngannou, 38, and the UFC began in 2021 before his final UFC bout against Ciryl Gane. Ngannou became adamant in his demands that pay be increased — especially with lucrative boxing endeavors being an open opportunity for him — as well as the request that all fighters on the UFC roster be offered healthcare outside of cage injuries.

Ngannou defeated Gane by unanimous decision, retaining his belt until his departure from the UFC was official in 2023. The arguments went on well past his departure, however, with fans and fighters rallying around Ngannou and his demand for a better promotion within the UFC.

After becoming a free agent, UFC president Dana White made his distaste for Ngannou’s decision very apparent. Claiming low fighter pay is a non-factor, he denied any chance that Ngannou would find greater success and make more money after leaving his promotion. At one point, White even switched the narrative completely and claimed Ngannou’s departure was due to him being afraid of facing higher level opponents.

“If you don’t want to be here, you don’t have to be here,” White said at the time. “I think Francis is in a place right now where he doesn’t want to take a lot of risks, he feels like he’s in a position to fight lesser opponents and make more money.”

White’s comments drew skepticism and doubt around the fight game. After all, in January 2021, Ngannou’s last fight in the UFC left him with a payout of $640,000. It only took until October 2023 for Ngannou to face Tyson Fury in The Battle of the Baddest in Saudi Arabia, to secure a payout of $10 million before any cut on the pay-per-view buys were awarded. This fight, alone, covered his entire career earnings with the UFC.

Although it resulted in a controversial loss, Ngannou continued his boxing career, facing Anthony Joshua at the Kingdom Arena in Saudi Arabia in March 2024. Ngannou walked away with another loss, but a payout of $20 Million, double his payout for his boxing debut.

In an emotional return to MMA Saturday, Francis Ngannou dedicated his victory to his late son Kobe, telling reporters that “I can’t think about anything other than my son Kobe. I only took this fight because of him. I went to fight for him. I hope they can remember his name because without Kobe, we wouldn’t be here.”

Along the way, tragically, Ngannou lost his 15-month-old son, Kobe, in April 2024. He later revealed that his passing was due to doctor’s missing a malformation on his brain. His anticipated return to MMA, in fact, has since been dedicated to his late son.

Negotiations were made between the PFL and Ngannou in 2023 when he then became a lead member of the PFL’s global advisory board, earned equity in PFL Africa, was guaranteed seven-figures for each fight, and each of his future opponents were promised a payout of $1 million.

“The best way to pay tribute to him, to honor him, is to do something positive,” Ngannou explained. “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 be like quitting. It wasn’t a time for me to retire, to stop fighting.”

In his post-fight press conference, Ngannou took the opportunity to showcase how even the strongest men in the world can be struck by life. Putting grief on the world stage continues to set the precedent that Ngannou is changing the world of sports in more ways than one.

“They’ve been telling me that I’m tough, to the point that I get to believe that I am tough and then I recently found out that I wasn’t tough,” Ngannou said. “Life can let you take an advance, and you think you’re running away, and then it hits you really bad, like from the front. I have seen people going through it and then out of compassion I try to understand how they feel but you never get anywhere close to how it feels exactly.”

Following Saturday’s victory in his PFL debut, it is evident that Ngannou took the correct risk and changed his life and career indefinitely. Ngannou’s strong stance on his worth as a champion could shape the future of MMA for generations to come, showing that even the top promotions cannot tie down a star.

Aaliyah Whitney is a junior majoring in Broadcast Journalism on a pre-law track. After her studies, she will pursue a career as the official broadcaster for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.