Francis Ngannou — Cameroonian-French heavyweight fighter, former UFC heavyweight champion known as 'The Predator,' who later left the UFC to box Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. Holds the hardest punch ever recorded by the UFC.
The gist
Francis Ngannou tells Steven Bartlett the full story of his life: growing up in extreme poverty in a mud-walled home in West Cameroon, working a sand quarry at age nine, and deciding at 13 to become a professional fighter. He recounts his year-long, life-threatening journey across the Sahara and repeated attempts to reach Spain by fence and inflatable boat before being rescued at sea. The conversation traces his rise from sleeping in a Paris parking lot to becoming UFC heavyweight champion, his exit from the UFC over contract freedom, and his lucrative pivot to boxing against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. The episode turns deeply emotional as Ngannou discusses the recent death of his 15-month-old son Kobe and his struggle to grieve and find new purpose.
Big reveals
- Reveals he became the 'captain' of the smuggler boats despite not knowing how to swim.
- Explains that when caught, migrants were driven back and dumped in the desert without food, financed by European money.
- Describes his seventh and finally successful attempt crossing to Spain, rescued by the Red Cross.
- Admits he didn't know how to train or prepare for a championship early in his UFC career because he never grew up an athlete.
- States he left the UFC over a one-sided contract and a disagreement with Dana White about freedom and treatment.
- Says he turned down major UFC money and was effectively broke as heavyweight champion, living off loans, to buy his freedom.
- Alleges the Anthony Joshua fight was rigged with 'tricks' (deliberate delays) to tire him out, and admits he fell asleep in the locker room.
- Reveals his 15-month-old son Kobe died just months before the interview and that he hasn't been able to grieve.
Things worth remembering
- His family lived on less than $1,000 a year in a Cameroonian village.
- He started working in a sand quarry with a shovel at nine years old.
- On the desert crossing he saw skeletons of people who had died along the route.
- When dehydrated he drank well water containing dead animals and rotting leaves.
- The border fences were about 7 meters high, topped with barbed wire, across roughly 12-14 miles.
- He slept in a parking lot for about two months after arriving in Paris in June 2013.
- His first UFC fight in Orlando in 2015 paid just $10,000 plus a $10,000 win bonus.
- His punch is the hardest ever recorded by the UFC, about 93 horsepower.
- He earned far more from a single Tyson Fury fight than his entire UFC career combined.
- The closing-question answer: the death of his son was when he felt everything he'd fought for fell apart and he felt like a failure.