Francis Ngannou Reveals He Wanted To Quit Fighting after Sons Death

Francis Ngannou (18-3 MMA) nearly gave up on fighting after the death of his 15 month old son Kobe in 2024. The former UFC heavyweight champion joined Daniel Cormier on the DC Show this week and delivered one of the most heart breaking interviews in recent MMA history, just two days before his return at MVP MMA 1 on Saturday.

"I did not want to keep fighting," Ngannou said. "There was no reason. I find no purpose in it."

Kobe had passed away due to an undiagnosed brain malformation. Ngannou had talked about the loss publicly before (briefly, after his PFL return last October) but never in this much detail. DC, who lost his own daughter in a car crash back in 2003, was the one who finally convinced him to open up on this.

Ngannou Remembers the Last Time He Saw His Son

The most emotional part of this interview came when Ngannou shared the last memory he ever made of seeing his son. And man was it rough.

"I think about the last time I saw him," Ngannou said. "It was me leaving the apartment, going to the elevator. My brother was holding him, and he was crying because he did not want me to leave, but I just knew I was going to be back and everything was going to be okay." But sadly he didn't make it back in time.

Ngannou said that the tragedy struck during a period of time where he was constantly bouncing around the globe. He left the UFC, boxed Tyson Fury, boxed Anthony Joshua. The man was always somewhere, always doing something. It got the point where he had started to question whether he was even capable of feeling emotions anymore.

"It was a trigger to find out that I'm still sensitive and I'm still human," Ngannou said. "You get there and you see how life is so fragile." And the trauma did not cease with the loss itself. Months after Kobe passed, Ngannou was just driving with his daughter when she caught a cold and stopped responding. He eventually learned that it was completely normal for a child of her age to react like that, but for Ngannou, it felt like the world was ending all over again.

"I was just traumatized by that moment," he said.

The Decision to Keep Fighting

Ngannou came close to retirement. Not because his body wouldn't let him fight anymore. But because he could not find a reason to keep doing it.

"What's the point of fighting if I cannot even fight for my son?" Ngannou asked. "What am I looking for?"
But something shifted. He realized that walking away due to Kobe's death would mean placing the weight of that decision on his own son, and Kobe did not deserve that burden. His first fight back was a finish of Renan Ferreira in the first round at PFL in October 2024. He dedicated the victory to Kobe. The thing about all this here too is that DC understood more about this than most people can. He told Ngannou that whenever he competed, he felt like his daughter was watching over him. He hoped Ngannou could embrace that same sentiment.

"I can talk about this because I lost my daughter at a very young age, and it changed me," DC said. "It really did change me."

Ngannou Returns to the Cage Saturday on Netflix

Francis Ngannou faces Philipe Lins (18-5 MMA) in an announced main card fight on Netflix's MVP MMA 1 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles on Saturday. The livestreamed event is headlined by Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano. It will be just Ngannou's second bout since losing his son.

Honestly if you watch it the full DC interview is hard to get through but if you have the time its worth it. Two of the most dangerous MMA heavyweight fighters ever, talking about the one thing they found they could not hit. But Ngannou made it clear why he kept coming back.

"Since I couldn't fight for him in the other way, maybe I should just keep fighting for him, instead of retire for him," Ngannou said.