Francis Ngannou

Francis Zavier Ngannou was born on September 5, 1986, in Batié, western Cameroon. The family in which Ngannou was born was not wealthy, so they always had to get out of difficult financial situations. 

Unfortunately, over time, the situation has not changed for the better. His father was not the calmest man and very often arranged fights both on the streets and in bars. This behavior of the father greatly affected the young Ngannou, as it left an invisible mark on him and his family. When their parents' relationship reached its limit, they decided to divorce. At that time, Ngannou was only six years old. 

After the divorce, Ngannou was forced to live with his aunt for some time but later returned to his mother and siblings. As the financial situation only worsened over time, and it was almost impossible to keep five children for one mother, Ngannou made a willful decision for the child and went to work at the sand quarry. Of course, such work is intended for adults and not children, but the boy realized that he had no choice at that time. For a long time, he did not have the opportunity to leave this job, and growing up in such an environment, he realized that such a life is far from his dreams. 

For seven long years, Ngannou worked at a sand quarry and eventually decided to leave the job. At the same time, some local gangs offered Ngannou to join them, but the guy always refused. He saw a completely different life for himself. Inspired by Mike Tyson and his success story, Ngannou decided to put all his efforts into boxing. This direction gave him a crazy motivation and somewhat cleared his family's reputation. He took what people disliked from his father and sent it in a purely positive sport direction. Although at first, almost no one approved of this approach, given that the financial situation in the family was still far from good. 

Since the age of 22, Ngannou has been increasingly involved in boxing. Unfortunately, there are troubles in life when you don't expect them at all. A year after the start of training, Ngannou fell ill and was unable to continue. He was forced to return to regular work to support himself and his family financially. Probably the most decisive event in Ngannou's life was the decision to risk everything he had at the time and go to Paris to try his hand at professional boxing. 

The road to his dream turned out to be much harder than Ngannou could even imagine. Of course, it was almost impossible for him to get there legally, so he had to choose a risky and challenging path. Despite this, one of the most difficult periods in his life was still ahead. Once in France, Ngannou had absolutely nothing. No money, no friends or acquaintances, no roof over the head. Nothing. He had to experience the most brutal struggle of all - the battle for survival. 

Living on the streets, he had to go through a lot, but he continued to believe that he would achieve his goal despite anything. Later, thanks to a happy coincidence, Ngannou met Didier Carmont, who noticed his desire to do sports. He decided to help him because he understood this difficult situation. Carmont was the one who agreed with the management of the gym to allow Ngannou to exercise there for free. This opportunity opened a new page in his life and once again reminded him not to lose faith in people because there will always be someone who wants to help you. 

Ngannou took full advantage of this opportunity. Very quickly, he began to show fantastic results. He was then introduced to coach Fernand Lopez, who still coaches Ngannou. During this period, he was invited to try himself not in boxing but mixed martial arts, better known to people as MMA. At first, Ngannou did not want to go this way because he dreamed of seeing himself as a boxer but later decided to agree. Lopez helped him with all the necessary equipment and even allowed him to live and sleep there. From this time, Ngannou began his fiercest training, which would later take him to the professional stage. 

November 13, 2013, can be considered the official start date of Ngannou's sports career. Of course, for signing with the UFC, he needed to pass specific qualifications with a good result and show in general that he is a worthy fighter. It took him two years and six fights, five of which he won, to reach the coveted UFC. Showing a great result, he signed with the UFC, where he did his first fight against Luis Henrique in late 2015. This spectacular fight ended in the second round, and of course, Ngannou came out the winner. 

Ngannu also won the next five matches and even received his first two Performance of the Night bonuses. Among these five matches, it is definitely worth noting the fight between Ngannou against Alistair Overeem, which became one of the most mesmerizing in his career. Overeem was already famous not only in the MMA ring but also in kickboxing. During his career, he managed to win several championships, so the fight promised to be interesting. As a result, it happened. Although it was a relatively short fight, Ngannou showed one of the best uppercuts in his career, ending the fight. 

The first defeat in the UFC for Ngannou was in a fight with Stipe Miocic. The fight lasted 25 minutes (5 rounds of 5 minutes), and by unanimous decision, it was decided to recognize Miocic as the winner. A similar situation happened in the next match with Derrick Lewis, where Ngannou lost by the decision. From that moment until today, he has managed to play five more matches, namely against Curtis Blaydes, Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and Stipe Miocic. Ngannou won all these matches by KO or TKO. 

Today, in addition to sports, Ngannou is actively developing his own projects, such as the Francis Ngannou Foundation. This organization aims to help children in Cameroon achieve their dreams and give them a chance for professional development. One of the first steps of this organization is to build a professional gym for those who want to connect their future with this activity. It's also worth mentioning the fact that today he has several prestigious awards such as Breakthrough Fighter of the Year, Knockout of the Year, 6x Performance of the Night, and of course UFC Heavyweight Championship.