Francis Ngannou (35) is the world heavyweight champion of the UFC, the largest Mixed Martial Arts organization. Rico Verhoeven’s sparring partner will defend his world title in the night from Saturday to Sunday. Less than ten years ago, the world looked very different for the French-Cameroonian fighter: he spent two months in jail for illegally crossing the border into Spain.
Ngannou was born into poverty. He grew up in Batié, a village in Cameroon where local gangs rule. His parents divorced when he was young. Since then, his aunt raised him and at the age of 10 Ngannou started working in the sand mines of Batié, so that at home they could make ends meet. It was there that the hands were formed that can now deliver the hardest blows on earth.
His strength was not only well received by the owners of the sand mine, the local gangs also noticed that Ngannou was not to be messed with at a young age. Several times the penniless child laborer was asked to join a gang, but although this would undoubtedly have made him financially no worse, Ngannou refused each time. He did not envision his father’s street fighter life, but dreamed bigger: boxing in Europe.
The Cameroonian therefore decided at the age of 22 to say goodbye to the sand mines and to focus on boxing, against the wishes of his family. At first, that choice seemed to have gone horribly wrong: not long after he decided to dedicate his life completely to boxing, he fell ill. However, Ngannou persevered and after a year in the rags and countless side jobs to make ends meet, he left for Europe at the age of 26.
Once in Spain, the next disappointment awaited him. He was arrested by border police and sentenced to two months in prison for illegally crossing the border. However, the indomitable boxer was not stopped and arrived in Paris not long after his imprisonment. Without having received money, friends or any form of meaningful education.
When is title fight Ngannou?
Ngannou is on the eve of his third world title fight. Sunday morning (4 a.m. Dutch time) defends The Baddest Man on the Planet his world title. His opponent in the Honda Center (in Anaheim, America) is a Frenchman and former training buddy Ciryl Gane. One of his current sparring partners is none other than Rico Verhoeven.
Although MMA and kickboxing are two different martial arts, Ngannou hopes to benefit from the expertise of kickboxing king Verhoeven. As an agile martial artist, Verhoeven can help the less moving Ngannou to move better in the octagon, or so the idea. Whether Verhoeven’s help actually helped Sunday morning should appear.
The logical consequence was that initially he had little choice but to live on the street. It wasn’t until he was introduced to Fernand Lopez, a Cameroonian MMA fighter who had his own training facilities in Paris, that his career picked up some steam. It was Lopez who convinced Ngannou to fight MMA. Ngannou put aside his boxing dream for it.
From then on things went fast. Ngannou won five of his six bouts and two years after his debut on the MMA scene, he signed with the UFC in 2015. At the American MMA organization, ‘The Predator’ won his first five matches. In 2018 he went up for his first world title, but the jury was unanimous: opponent Stipe Miocic kept his title.
Ngannou broke with his mentor, but he pushed through even without Lopez. In 2021 it came to a rematch and then it was hit: in the second round ‘the most dangerous man in the world’ won by knockout. The Cameroonian sand mine worker is crowned world heavyweight champion in MMA.
riots
However, Ngannou is not free from riots either. That’s how he got into a fight with UFC president Dana White. He would be underpaid. Ngannou would therefore not be tied to his contract with UFC for longer than necessary, the MMA fighter showed. The UFC star has also been linked to a fight with legendary boxer Tyson Fury. All parties have an ear for an epic fight, but the question is under what conditions anyway.
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss a thing from the stars.
#Rico #Verhoeven #dangerous #man #world #title #extension #UFC