Francis Ngannou

Francis Ngannou

Francis Ngannou (born on 5 September 1986) is a Cameroonian-French professional mixed martial artist competing in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As of March 12, 2020 Francis Ngannou is ranked #2 in the UFC heavyweight rankings

Background

Ngannou was born and raised in the village of Batié, Cameroon.[4] He lived in poverty and had little formal education growing up.[5] Ngannou's parents divorced when he was six years old, and he was sent to live with his aunt. At 12 years old, Ngannou started working in a sand quarry in Batié because of a lack of funds.[6] As a youngster, he was approached by various gangs in his village to join them.[7] However, Ngannou refused and instead decided to use his father's negative reputation as a street fighter as motivation to do something positive and pursue boxing.[7]

At the age of 22, Ngannou began training in boxing, despite reluctance from his family in the beginning.[7] After training for a year, Ngannou stopped training due to an illness.[8] He did various odd jobs to make ends meet, until at the age of 26, he immigrated to Paris, France, to pursue professional boxing.[9] After Ngannou reached Paris, he had no money, no friends and no place to live.[5] After living homeless on the streets of Paris, he began training for free in August 2013 under Didier Carmont.[6] Being a fan of Mike Tyson, Ngannou was originally interested in learning how to box until his coach introduced him to the sport of MMA.[9]

Reflecting on his journey across continents and his decision to become an MMA fighter, Ngannou said:[5][9]

When I started, I had nothing. Nothing. I needed everything. But when you start [to earn money], you starting collecting things: I want this, I want this, I want that. The purpose is not collecting things, though. The purpose is to do something great. Finish the dream you started.

I want to help my family, first, of course, but then I want to give opportunity to children in my country like me who have a dream to become a doctor or something. If I reach my dream, it will give me the opportunity to help those in my country who have their own dreams and nothing else to fulfill them.

I want to give some opportunity for children like me who dream of this sport and don’t have an opportunity like me. The last time I was in Cameroon, I brought a lot of materials for boxing and MMA to open a gym. Now I just bought a big space to start the gym, as well.

A lot of children now in Cameroon, because of me, they have a dream. They say, ‘I will be a champion in MMA. I will do boxing like Francis,’ because they saw me when I was young. I didn’t have anything. I didn’t have any opportunity. And today, they see me, and they are dreaming. They are thinking that something is possible. Even when they are so poor, something is possible in life. … It's not easy. It's so hard, but it's possible.

Ngannou is multilingual. He speaks several languages including Ngemba, French and English.[6][10][11] He learned English after joining the UFC.[12]

Mixed martial arts career

Ngannou started his MMA career in November 2013 and fought mostly in the French promotion 100% Fight, as well as other regional promotions in Europe.[13]

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Ngannou made his UFC debut against fellow newcomer Luis Henrique on 19 December 2015 at UFC on Fox 17.[14] He won the fight via knockout in the second round.[15]

Ngannou next faced UFC newcomer Curtis Blaydes on 10 April 2016, at UFC Fight Night 86.[16] He won the fight via TKO, due to doctors stoppage, at the conclusion of the second round.[17]

In his next bout, Ngannou faced another newcomer in Bojan Mihajlović on 23 July 2016, at UFC on Fox 20.[18] He won the fight via TKO in the first round.[19] Ngannou faced Anthony Hamilton on 9 December 2016, at UFC Fight Night 102.[20] He won the fight by submission in the first round, and earned his first UFC Performance of the Night bonus.[21][22]

Ngannou faced Andrei Arlovski on 28 January 2017, at UFC on Fox 23.[23] He won the fight via TKO in the first round. The win also earned Ngannou his second Performance of the Night bonus.[24] Ngannou was expected to face Junior dos Santos on 9 September 2017 at UFC 215.[25] However, on 18 August, Dos Santos was pulled from the match after being notified of a potential USADA violation.[26] In turn, Ngannou was removed from the card after promotion officials deemed that a suitable opponent could not be arranged.[27][28] In the highest profile fight of his career, Ngannou faced Alistair Overeem on 2 December 2017 at UFC 218.[29] He won the fight via knockout in the first round.[30]

Ngannou fought Stipe Miocic for the UFC Heavyweight title on 20 January 2018 at UFC 220.[31] He lost the fight via unanimous decision.[32]

Ngannou faced Derrick Lewis on 7 July 2018 at UFC 226.[33] He lost the fight via unanimous decision. The fight was heavily criticized by the media and the fans for the lack of offence from both competitors[34][35][36][37] and was labeled as a "snoozefest".[38]

Ngannou faced Curtis Blaydes in a rematch on 24 November 2018 in the main event at UFC Fight Night 141[39] He won the fight via TKO early into the first round.[40] The win also earned him a Performance of the Night bonus.[41]

Ngannou headlined UFC's inaugural event on ESPN, UFC on ESPN 1 against Cain Velasquez on 17 February 2019.[42] He won the fight via knockout in the first round.[43]

Ngannou faced Junior dos Santos on June 29, 2019 at UFC on ESPN 3.[44] He won the fight via technical knockout in the first round.[45] This fight earned him the Performance of the Night award.[46]

Ngannou was scheduled to face Jairzinho Rozenstruik on March 28, 2020 at UFC on ESPN 8.[47] Due to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, the event was eventually postponed .[48] The pair was rescheduled to meet at April 18, 2020 at UFC 249.[49] However, on April 9, Dana White, the president of UFC announced that this event was postponed[50] and the bout eventually took place on May 9, 2020.[51] Ngannou won via knockout just 20 seconds into the first round.[52] This win earned him the Performance of the Night award