Coach Reveals Francis Ngannou’s Self-Doubt and Injury Before PFL Title Win
Francis Ngannou made his return to MMA for the first time since 2022. Ngannou made his PFL debut against Renan Ferreira for the heavyweight championship. Ngannou looked like he didn’t skip a beat as he made easy work of Ferreira defeating him in the first round via TKO.
Francis Ngannou took down Ferreira and displayed his ground game. Many people questioned Nganoou’s sharpness coming into the fight considering his layoff from MMA and spending time in the boxing scene having fought two fights. Ngannou easily took Ferreira’s back and was able to finish him with viscous ground and pound 3:32 into round one.
Francis Ngannou had serious Doubts coming into fight
Coming into this fight, Francis Ngannou faced lots of adversity having to overcome many physical and emotional battles coming into this fight. Ngannou had talked about contemplating pulling out of the fight due to a rib injury that complicated his fight camp.
Not only did Francis Ngannou have that weight on his shoulders but he came into the fight after his 15-month-old son Kobe tragically passed away earlier this year. He wanted to fight and dedicate a winning and dominant performance for his son in which he rightfully did.
Ngannou’s coach talks about doubts
Francis Ngannou’s coach, Eric Nicksick, said there was much concern coming into the fight especially on how the fight would play out situationally. Nicksick in an interview talked about that:
“He was worried if he was on his back, how he would be able to move and try to grapple with an injured rib. Once he went to the doctors and they cleared him with an MRI and everything else, I think he realized, ‘I’m going to be OK. I’m going to get through this still.”
Ngannou and his coach were able to embrace the victory as emotions were running very high after. Despite Ngannou’s self-doubt, Nicksick had faith in him and expressed his support for the Cameroon native. “I never questioned him, but I know he was questioning himself all the way, even up until the day of the fight. I know that he carried a different type of weight to him and all I told him was, ‘There’s no other person in the world that I’ve met that has the courage and resiliency that you have. And if there’s anybody that can get through some sort of adversity, it’s going to be you,'” said Nicksick.
It’ll be interesting to see what’s next for Francis Ngannou as he will have time to make his decision after claiming the PFL heavyweight belt.
