Francis Ngannou is still fighting, but his sit-down with Daniel Cormier showed how close the former UFC heavyweight champion came to walking away after the death of his 15-month-old son Kobe.
Ahead of Ngannou’s fight with Philipe Lins at MVP MMA 1, he spoke about leaving the UFC, losing Kobe, and the standard that will decide his retirement. Ngannou enters the Lins fight with an 18-3 overall MMA record, including 13 knockouts, four submissions, and one decision win. His UFC record was 12-2, with 10 knockouts and one submission across 14 Octagon appearances. The interview was not a comeback promo dressed up as therapy. Ngannou gave direct answers, and the heaviest ones were about why fighting almost stopped making sense.
Ngannou defended the UFC heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 on January 22, 2022. The UFC stripped him of the belt on January 14, 2023 after both sides failed to reach a new contract, ending his run as champion without another UFC fight.
Cormier asked whether the split came down to money or disrespect. Ngannou said the issue was respect.
“It wasn’t money,” Ngannou said. “I think the mistake that the UFC did, we get to the point that I feel it hits my ego. I feel like I wasn’t respected.”
Ngannou said that was the moment he started thinking about leaving the contract first, even if it damaged his career.
“At that point, I think that was the moment that I’m like, okay, I think I’m getting out of this contract first,” Ngannou said.
He said pressure tactics were the wrong way to deal with him because he was prepared to lose the sport before accepting terms that made him feel cornered.
“When something touches my ego, I don’t care about anything,” Ngannou said. “I don’t care if this is going to be the end of my career. If this means I am going back to Africa to farm, at least I can buy some machine to farm. I’m going to do something.”
“My success is not about the sport,” Ngannou said. “I think it’s about my personality, and I can implement that in everything that I can do and still do it.”
Ngannou signed with PFL in May 2023, then crossed into boxing against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. He lost a split decision to Fury after dropping him in the third round, lost to Joshua by second-round knockout in March 2024, and returned to MMA in October 2024 with a first-round stoppage of Renan Ferreira for the inaugural PFL Super Fights heavyweight title.
Watch the full interview below:
Ngannou Says Kobe’s Death Made Fighting Feel Pointless
The deepest part of the conversation came when Ngannou spoke about Kobe. Ngannou announced on April 29, 2024 that his 15-month-old son had died. The reported cause was a brain malformation.
Ngannou said the loss changed how he sees life and control.
“He definitely brings you to see life in a different way,” Ngannou said.
“You feel how life can be fragile,” Ngannou said. “I’m out here fighting for this. I’m thinking I’m this. But tomorrow, today, every moment can be the last.”
He said the fear was not only about Kobe. The loss made him feel how little control he had over everyone close to him.
“I don’t have control of anybody around me,” Ngannou said. “It can be anybody tomorrow or now or the next hour.”
That fear followed him into normal family moments. Months after Kobe’s death, Ngannou was with his daughter when she briefly seemed tired and unresponsive. He said his mind immediately went to the worst place.
“The biggest fear of my life,” Ngannou said. “I’m like, so everything is falling apart. Like, this is it.”
“For me, it’s just I’m traumatized by what happened,” Ngannou said.
Cormier asked if Ngannou still wanted to fight. Ngannou said he did not.
“I didn’t want to keep fighting,” Ngannou said. “I don’t want to keep doing anything.”
His explanation was blunt. Fighting had been tied to family, protection, and building a secure life. After losing Kobe, the purpose behind all that violence felt broken.
“I find no reason of fighting,” Ngannou said. “I find no purpose of it because the reason why I was fighting was for family and to make a better life, security for a better life. Then I felt so powerless in front of the situation that I couldn’t even do anything. I’m like, okay, what’s the point of fighting if I cannot even fight for my son?”
Ngannou also described the last time he saw Kobe. His son cried as Ngannou left the apartment, but Ngannou believed he would return soon.
“I just knew I going to be back,” Ngannou said. “I just know it’s going to be okay.”
That memory turned into questions he could not shake.
“Where was I going?” Ngannou said. “You don’t even know where you were going. Nothing even matter. I should have just sit there, just hang out.”
“I should have go back,” Ngannou said. “I should have maybe changed my fly. I should have stay one more day, two more day.”
Ngannou said he eventually realized retirement would put the weight of that decision on Kobe.
“At some point I felt like I was putting the responsibility on him to stop fighting,” Ngannou said. “He didn’t deserve that responsibility. I didn’t have to put that on him.”
That changed the way he looked at returning. Stopping because of Kobe no longer felt right. Fighting for him did.
“Maybe I should just keep fighting for him instead of retire for him,” Ngannou said.
“After that my return was like, okay, I’m going to fight for him,” Ngannou said. “That’s why my next fight was dedicated to him. I’m fighting this for him.”
Ngannou is not setting a retirement date before his MVP MMA fight with Lins. He told Cormier the decision will come only when he feels he cannot fully commit anymore.
“The day that I feel like I will not, I cannot give my 100% anymore, I’m out,” Ngannou said.
Ngannou faces Philipe Lins at MVP MMA 1 on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, on Netflix’s first live MMA card.
