An emotional Francis Ngannou details how difficult training camp for PFL debut was after death of son Kobe: "Couldn't do anything"

Francis Ngannou rose to the occasion after a year marked by personal and professional setbacks to register a first-round knockout victory over Renan Ferreira in his Professional Fighters League debut. Ngannou returned to the cage after more than two years to take on Ferreira in the main event of PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants.

Following his exit from the UFC, 'The Predator' ventured into two boxing contests, narrowly losing a decision to Tyson Fury before suffering a brutal knockout against Anthony Joshua. He also suffered a tragic personal loss after the Joshua setback, enduring the heartbreaking loss of his 15-month-old son, Kobe.

After the victory over Ferreira, Ngannou revealed the emotional toll of training for the bout following the loss of his son. Speaking candidly in the post-fight interview, he admitted that the past few weeks had been incredibly difficult, stating that he struggled to focus and "couldn't do anything" without thinking of his son.

The Cameroonian explained that he fought in Kobe’s honor, dedicating the victory to him. He expressed his hope that people would remember his son, acknowledging that without Kobe, he might not have had the strength to step into the cage that night. He said:

"I only did this fight because of him [Kobe]. I wanted to fight for him... And I'm done. So I don't know. I hope they can remember his name because, without Kobe, we wouldn't be here tonight."

Ngannou added:

"It was tough. It's been tough. The past... I think not only the training camp was tough, but, the past 2 days were very tough, full of emotion. Couldn't do anything, without thinking about it. I mean, I'm trying to [stay] strong, tell myself to keep moving, but it's hard, man. It's just hard."

Check out Francis Ngannou's post-fight interview below:

In his fight, Ngannou quickly shifted gears after a cautious start to execute a takedown against Ferreira. Once on the ground, Ngannou unleashed a flurry of ground-and-pound strikes, overwhelming the Brazilian and securing the victory in under two minutes.