'Best way to pay tribute': Francis Ngannou returns to MMA after death of 15-month-old son CNN

It's with a renewed sense of purpose in life and a truly heavy heart that former UFC champion Francis Ngannou makes his eagerly awaited return to an MMA cage this weekend in Saudi Arabia.

The Cameroonian will make his professional fighter league debut against heavyweight champion Renan Ferreira in Saturday's Super Fight title in Riyadh.

Ngannou will do so against a backdrop of unspeakable tragedy following the death of his beloved 15-month-old son Kobe earlier this year.

“The best way to pay tribute to him, to honor him, is to do something positive. To continue to be active because that's the best way to pay tribute to him instead of quitting because, if I stopped fighting, it would have been like quitting,” Ngannou told CNN Sport. “It was not my time to retire, to stop fighting.

“(He was) a brave man. He came as a king and went as a king. He was just something special. For some reason he did not live long. I have seen him many times and am impressed. I couldn't believe he came from me. He was the best thing in me.

Motivated and inspired by his son's memory, the man who once held the hardest recorded punch in UFC history now has his sights set on Ferreira, looking to build a record of just three losses in 20 mixed martial arts bouts. Twelve of his 17 wins have come by way of knockout.

This will be the African star's first MMA fight since 2022. Over the past few years, Ngannou has moved on to the sweet science: boxing. Late last year, he suffered a controversial points defeat to Tyson Fury – despite flooring the Englishman in round one – while earlier in 2024, he was knocked out by Fury's compatriot Anthony Joshua.

“I want to go back to MMA because, as much as I enjoy boxing, I miss MMA. It's time to come back,” revealed the heavyweight as he looks ahead to his duel with his Brazilian opponent, who has 13 wins from 11 knockouts.

“He is a very dangerous opponent like everyone is a dangerous opponent. Those I have fought before. It's just about finding your way. Getting your strategy right. Your game plan is to get it right. He is dangerous, but I firmly believe that I am more dangerous than him. I think I have the best motivation. I am the best in this game.”

Ngannou's heroic journey to the pinnacle of his sport is beyond inspiring. Growing up in Cameroon, he worked in a sand mine at just 10 years old to support his family. Raised by a single mother, it was a daily battle against poverty. He describes his childhood as “difficult and very challenging” but one that strengthened him to experience life.

“And then I found myself in a position where I wasn't worried about anything, you know. I felt that I was ready for everything and that moment when I realized that my past was the best thing that happened to me in a long time,” Ngannou reflected while sharing the details of his extraordinary life story.

A life-changing turning point came in 2012: Ngannou made the momentous decision to leave family, friends and his homeland. An epic, year-long journey will follow, a trek across multiple countries and continents fraught with danger, yet fueled by hope for a better life. His goal is to, perhaps one day, realize his dream of a professional combat sports career in America.

The journey took him over thousands of miles over land, mountains and seas before his final arrival in Paris. Along the way, he spent time living in the forest where hunger was an ever-present reality.

“When you're in survival mode, you do whatever it takes. Whether it's finding food in the trash, finding food in the trash where you need it. Whether it's drinking dirty water from a potential water well, you drink it to survive,” Ngannou said.

“We put ourselves at risk physically, whether it was trying to cross the barbed wire fence or crossing the sea to Spain,” he added.

Although unable to swim, Ngannou attempted to cross the Strait of Gibraltar six times in an inflatable raft. All six attempts ended in failure, although quitting was never on the table.

“It was my pride in thinking this way that kept me going,” he said. “Some people will go back because they have places to go back to. But some, they don't because it's their only option. They have no plan B. When your only plan is a plan A, you give everything to your plan and you take a lot of risk.”

On the seventh attempt, Ngannou's patience and persistence were finally rewarded as the Red Cross finally received both him and the team he was leading to safety on April 3, 2013 – remarkably, exactly one year to the day he left his homeland. But what happened next, he says — a two-month incarceration in an immigration detention center — was psychologically harrowing.

“It was too heavy to carry. You get to the point that maybe they should have let me go back,” Ngannou recalls. “You realize that when you're in the forest, you're free. But you're locked in this box. It was hard but a departure from where we were. Good change. It was quite different.”

Ngannou would eventually reach Paris where he would again suffer as he was homeless and forced to sleep in a parking lot. The spirit of Cameroonians, however, will never be broken. He found a local gym – telling the owner at the time, “I've got no money, I've got nothing, but I want to be world champion” – and that's where he was given hope and introduced to MMA.

This was the beginning of his path to Ultimate Fighting Championship glory. Eight years later, this incredible Hollywood-style rags-to-riches story will finally become an American dream in March 2021 when Ngannou defeats Stipe Miocic to become the UFC heavyweight champion.

Ngannou and the UFC would eventually part ways, and his stint with boxing soon followed, but that could be in his future again — perhaps after this upcoming fight with Ferreira. “Boxing for me is unfinished business,” says the man whose mantra has always been to live by an “I'm going to conquer the world” mentality.

“That's what always keeps me going. My motivation, my determination, my dedication. You can take everything away from me now but you can never take it away from me. You will never take away my dreams,” he added.

Wherever he goes from here, we can be sure of one thing: for Francis Nganu, quitting will never be an option.