Francis Ngannou knocked out Renan Ferreira in the first round, just months after the former UFC heavyweight champion lost his one-year-old son
Francis Ngannou broke down in tears at the thought of his late son as he returned to winning ways in the cage.
Ngannou was making his comeback in MMA after a two-flight flirtation with boxing saw him beaten by Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. And the former UFC heavyweight champion wasted no time in reminding people of his ability as he destroyed PFL champion Renan Ferreira inside four minutes.
Ngannou took the fight to the floor in the early stages and soon had complete control. He bludgeoned the Brazilian with a barrage of blows, eventually forcing the referee to step in. Ngannou’s celebrations were muted as he crouched down in his corner before the official result was announced. He then struggled to keep his composure when he was interviewed.
“I can’t think about anything other than my son Kobe,” he said. “I only took this fight because of him and I’m done. I hope they can remember his name because, without Kobe, we wouldn’t be here tonight and I wouldn’t have fought. Thank you everyone for coming, thank you to Saudi Arabia, to Riyadh for being a great host, having us here and looking after us. The people are are lovely and supportive and today I have a fanbase in Saudi and what I can call a family.
“It has been tough. Not only the training camp but the past few days have been full of emotion. I couldn’t do anything without thinking about it. I tried to be strong and give everything to keep moving but it’s hard.” Asked about how he felt ahead of his return, Ngannou added: “I knew I hadn’t missed a step. As soon as I walked into the gym for MMA I knew everything was still there. It was just about managing my emotions and dealing with life. That’s what I was about, I’ve been working hard and we’re here, we finally got a. result.
“Thank you to my team, my family, everybody who has been around here. I took them away from their family for almost two months to support me and my crazy dream which has no limit. I don’t know if my dream makes sense but here we are, thank you guys.” Asked whether his plan had always been to take the fight to the floor, Ngannou added: “That was an option; I’m a mixed martial artist so that means I’m multi-dimensional so it was definitely an option. Not the only alternative but since the opportunity was there, I was here to take everything that came my way and here we are.”
Ngannou has said he wants to have boxing fights in the future but was noncommittal about his next outing. “I think my next move in combat sports depends on me; how I feel and how I deal with my life right now. I always thought I have a lot to give in combat sport and hopefully i keep thinking that way and keep that thought in life. I just want to say, please remember my son, remember my son Kobe. I dedicate this to him, this is to Kobe.”
