From a difficult childhood in Cameroon to becoming one of the best combat sports champions of his time, Francis Ngannou holds the record of 18 MMA fight wins.
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00:00Francis Ngannou is on record for having one of the hardest punches in the world.
00:06But quite often, the world punched him back.
00:09His unbelievable story starts from very humble beginnings in a remote village in Cameroon.
00:15Francis has overcome incredible odds, working in a sand mine at age 9,
00:19leaving his family behind to make a death-defying crossing into Europe in his 20s,
00:24and eventually becoming a combat sports world champion in his 30s.
00:28We've come to Dubai to meet him.
00:39Less than a year ago, Francis' 15-month-old son tragically passed away.
00:43Just six months later, the champion returned to the ring to honor his late child.
00:48Now, Francis Ngannou is leading the 2025 launch of the Professional Fighters League in Africa
00:53to give back to the continent he's from.
00:59This is the baddest man on the planet.
01:01Yeah, it is.
01:02Thank you, Francis.
01:03How are you?
01:04Good.
01:05This is what it looks like to face Francis Ngannou.
01:07I could take you.
01:11Let's take you to the ring.
01:14Francis, you had an incredibly difficult childhood in Cameroon.
01:17Your parents divorced when you were very young.
01:19You started working in a sand mine at the age of 9.
01:22Yet, by the age of 13, you already decided that you were going to become a professional boxer.
01:27What is it about the early stage of your life that led you to become the man you are today?
01:32The first thing that I know, that I love, was about, like, fighting, you know, action, movie, actions,
01:38everything that has action.
01:39I never wanted to be in the sand mine.
01:41It wasn't meant for kids, and basically not at that age.
01:45Matter of fact, my brother and I, we were the only kids working in the sand mine
01:50because it's a very physical job.
01:52I kind of, like, see my childhood pass by, like, I'm missing it, you know.
01:56Because we had to work, we had to go to the sand quarry.
02:01And then at 22, you moved to Douala.
02:04And then by 26, you made that difficult decision, I'm imagining, to move across the continent.
02:09Tell me about that journey, and then getting yourself to Europe.
02:13At the time, it was all about boxing.
02:16Everything that I was doing was to fulfill this dream.
02:19Even though it seemed, like, irrational, but I just had a passion.
02:25And I wasn't convinced that I was going to make it.
02:29I didn't even know if I was good or not.
02:32In Douala, I was stuck.
02:34I'm like, okay, enough is enough.
02:36I'm going to leave this country.
02:38I'm going to go after my dream.
02:40Well, I don't know.
02:42Europe was the next thing that was possible.
02:45Because I have heard that there is a people that migrate to Europe.
02:50It took me 14 months.
02:52In the course of living in Cameroon, through maybe getting to Morocco,
02:56you learn a lot about migration.
02:59It was a lot of things you have to go through in the process.
03:03Because it's a very different life.
03:06There is no law.
03:08And then there is no right, you have no right.
03:12You have to live like this for months in the forest.
03:17Looking for the right spot, for the right moment.
03:20And then maybe sometime you try, it doesn't work, you get caught.
03:23Maybe you get sent back in the desert.
03:26And you finally made it to Paris, where you were homeless,
03:29but still walked right into a boxing gym.
03:31Somewhere along the way, you were introduced to mixed martial arts.
03:35And then this journey began.
03:37I was very excited to start training.
03:40Like, here was the time.
03:42I felt like this was the time for my dream.
03:45That I've been waiting for.
03:47I've trained boxing in Cameroon a little bit.
03:50So my boxing wasn't that bad.
03:52At least, like, confident enough to look at myself,
03:55and look at the other guy in front of me.
03:58And believe that, yeah, I might have less skill than him.
04:02Or less experience.
04:04But I'm a man, I can fight.
04:06Even if I have never done a combat sport in my life,
04:09I'm not just giving up.
04:11So that's how I have to build my confidence.
04:13Because the skill, the experience wasn't there.
04:15What's your most memorable fight?
04:17I think all of them, at the end of the day,
04:20is a good experience, is a good memory.
04:23In 2021, like, when I become a world champion,
04:27you know, I was there.
04:29Because for me, it was always, like, my way of taking revenge over life.
04:33But I was there, and I didn't feel it as I thought it would be.
04:38You know, I'm like, OK, I'm a world champion.
04:42Then what? What next?
04:44So that's when you kind of, like, realize that
04:47it's not about the destination, it's about the process.
04:51It's not the one that you achieve.
04:53It's what drives you and gets you to those achievements.
04:57I just want to say, please, remember my son.
05:00Remember my son, Kobe.
05:02Francis, you've overcome incredible hurdles in your life,
05:06but nothing can prepare you for every parent's worst nightmare.
05:09You tragically lost your 15-month-old son recently
05:12and dedicated your victory at your Professional Fighters League
05:16Battle of the Giants debut to Kobe.
05:19How do you hope to continue to carry on his legacy?
05:22Well, what I think I will do is just what I'm doing,
05:28like trying to keep his memory alive,
05:31trying to make his short passage on Earth worth it,
05:36you know, memorable.
05:38And that's all what I can do.
05:47Francis, you're the chair of the PFL's expansion into Africa.
05:50How important is it for you to give opportunities
05:53for other African fighters on the continent
05:55for you to give back to your home country?
05:57So the whole ecosystem was missing,
05:59and I grew up with this dream of having some good Samaritan
06:04that comes around in the village and build a gym.
06:07And over the time, I realized that building a gym
06:10in that environment wasn't enough.
06:12So that's why I went from the idea of just having a gym
06:17in the village to make a foundation.
06:19You know, the kid that comes there,
06:21maybe sometime will just have a health issue,
06:24and his parent cannot bring him to the hospital.
06:28So us as a foundation, since he's a member of the community,
06:33we can help in that regard.
06:35So the idea was to make, build a community,
06:40a place that kids like me can feel like he belong,
06:44you know, can feel important somewhere.
06:47Considering all you've accomplished in the ring,
06:50in combat sports, what do you want your legacy to be?
06:53How do you want people to remember Francis Ngannou?
06:56One thing that I want to be, even for myself,
07:00I always make it a very important one,
07:03like not to give up.
07:05So yeah, maybe my legacy is like giving my best.
07:10And finally, Francis, the one word that I hear from you
07:14over and over again is freedom.
07:16Freedom to choose your own career path.
07:18Freedom from authorities and the detention center.
07:21Freedom to choose your own path in MMA, in boxing.
07:26What does freedom mean to you?
07:28I don't like to feel trapped.
07:31Just the idea of feeling trapped is very scary to me.
07:38Even when I was young, one of the reasons why I had to be disciplined
07:42was because I really don't like to be locked up.
07:45So yes, freedom for me means a lot.
07:49I'm glad you're free, we're free.
07:51Thank you so much for joining us on The Dialogue, Francis.
07:54Thank you very much.
07:55Really appreciate it.
07:56Appreciate you.