Francis Ngannou: Winning against Renan Ferreira was “an opportunity for me to find out if I can still fight, if I still have it”

Francis Ngannou has won many fights. He can only survive the toughest battle he will have to face for the rest of his life, but cannot really win.

Making his PFL debut just six months after the tragic death of Ngannou's 15-month-old son Kobe, the former UFC heavyweight champion was uncertain about his future Saturday night. Despite all the success he had accumulated over the years, Ngannou simply wasn't the same person after the loss of his son and he couldn't help but wonder if perhaps his fighting career was over.

“It was my biggest challenge because I was no longer the person I used to be,” Ngannou said after his victory over Renan Ferreira on Saturday. “Entering this fight was also an opportunity for me to find out whether I can still fight. If I still have it. Something like that.

“If I can handle it, the pressure, the fight week, the media and everything. We got through it.”

All of Ngannou's questions were answered when he came into the cage and delivered a top-notch performance, knocking out Ferreira early in the opening round and then delivering a vicious ground-and-pound finish. He needed less than four minutes to defeat the PFL's top heavyweight and earn his first win since his victory over Ciryl Gane in 2022.

After the fight ended, Ngannou was understandably overcome with emotion as he fought back tears and dedicated the victory to his son.

Although it was a physically dominant performance, Ngannou felt the biggest obstacles he had to overcome before Saturday came down to the mental battle inside his own head.

“It was pretty hard,” Ngannou said. “It was hard every moment from start to finish, but I think it's one of those things, you wonder, 'Will it ever be over?' You think it might never be over. You might as well learn to deal with it, to live with it. Because in certain cases I would have taken time to grieve, but how long would that take?

“I don't think I have enough time for that. I don't think a lifetime would be enough to grieve. Is it just a matter of moving on? It’s a new way of life that I have to learn.”

Enduring and surviving the last six months forced Ngannou to show strength he never thought possible. Ngannou says nothing could prepare him for what he went through, but eventually he found a way to step out of the darkness and into the light.

“They’ve told me I’m tough so many times that I believe I’m tough,” Ngannou said. “Then just recently I found out I’m not tough. I wasn't that tough.

“I've seen people go through this and out of compassion I've tried to understand what it must feel like, but you never get close to exactly what it feels like.”