Francis Ngannou made his PFL debut over the weekend and eased past his opponent Renan Ferreira with a first-round knockout victory after just three minutes and 32 seconds. That marked the Cameroonian fighter’s first professional bout after his 15-month-old son Kobe tragically died six months ago.
The Cameroonian professional mixed martial artist and boxer dedicated his knockout victory to his deceased son, and the 38-year-old was visibly emotional after the fight. Following his victory, Ngannou in an interview with TMZ said there was a point where he could not tell if he’ll ever return to the ring after his son died.
“Oh, yes [I didn’t know if I’d fight again]. There was a point that you didn’t know anything. Everything seemed so fragile,” Ngannou said. “You didn’t know if it’s like some sort of genetic pandemic, genetic disease. You didn’t know if it was like a curse. If it was just bad luck that’s going to keep happening. There was a point that, you know, like a lot of stuff happened in your head, stuff that you don’t usually think about.”
And though Ferreira was no match for Ngannou, he admitted the fight was mentally and emotionally tough for him. Ngannou said that was “by far the toughest” fight he has ever had. Before returning to the cage, he also said he had to come to a closure that he’d never get over the pain. So remaining on the sidelines was pointless.
“I didn’t feel like there would be a time that it’s going to go away, where it’s going to be okay,” Ngannou said. “It’s one of those things that you just realize at the beginning that you better learn how to roll with it because it will always be there.”
In April, Ngannou took to social media to mourn the death of his 15-month-old son, Kobe, Face2Face Africa reported. The 38-year-old paid tribute to his son after the news of his passing was circulated in his home country of Cameroon.
“Too soon to leave but yet he’s gone. My little boy, my mate, my partner Kobe was full of life and joy. Now, he’s laying without life. I shouted his name over and over but he’s not responding,” Ngannou shared on Instagram at the time.
“I was my best self next to him and now I have no clue of who I am. Life is so unfair to hit us where it hurts the most. How do you deal with such a thing? How can you live with it? Please help me if you have an idea because I really don’t know what to do and how to deal with this.”
Ngannou also opened up about his emotions in a separate post on X (formerly Twitter). “What’s the purpose of life if what we’re fighting tooth and nail to get away from is what finally hit us the hardest!?” he wrote. “Why is life so unfair and merciless? Why does life always take what we don’t have? I’m f**k*ng tired.”
