RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Francis Ngannou won’t ever be capable of absolutely deal with the tragic dying of his 15-month-old son Kobe, however his victory at PFL: Battle of the Giants was a small help in his therapeutic course of.
Ngannou (18-3) got here into Saturday’s inaugural heavyweight superfight title conflict with Renan Ferreira (13-4) with many questions round him. Along with the burden of an unthinkable private loss, it was additionally his first MMA combat in 1,000 days, and got here seven months after his brutal knockout loss to Anthony Joshua in boxing.
He got here out and took Ferreira down within the first spherical and battered him with floor strikes for the TKO end, and afterward the feelings poured out within the cage.
“They’ve been telling me I’m robust to the purpose the place I feel I’m robust – and I not too long ago simply came upon I wasn’t robust,” Ngannou informed MMA Junkie and different reporters post-fight. “I wasn’t that robust. Life can allow you to take the occasions and suppose you’re operating away, after which it hits you actually unhealthy from the entrance. It’s one thing that I by no means imagined. I by no means knew how I might really feel. I see folks going via and out of compassion I attempted to grasp how they have to really feel. However I might by no means get anyplace near the way it feels precisely.”
For all of the questions on him externally, Ngannou admits he had doubts about himself internally. He didn’t know the way he would take care of returning to the highlight and having to reply infinite questions on his state of affairs, and mentioned these ideas have been even operating via his thoughts on combat day.
Ngannou proved he’s nonetheless a severe risk contained in the cage, although, and that answered loads for him.
“It was exhausting,” Ngannou mentioned. “It was a kind of issues the place you ask your self, ‘Is it ever going to be over?’ It would by no means be over. You would possibly as properly simply discover ways to roll with it, the way to stay with it. In sure circumstances, I might take time to breathe, however how lengthy would that take? I don’t suppose there’s sufficient time for me to try this. I don’t suppose a lifetime wouldn’t be sufficient to grieve. So is it nearly preserving going. It’s a brand new way of life that I’ve to study.
“Sadly, (the win) doesn’t take my problem away. My problem continues to be there. It was my large problem. My greatest problem in the way in which that I wasn’t the individual that I was coming into this combat. This combat for me was all the time a strategy to discover out if I can nonetheless combat, if I nonetheless have it. If I can take care of this. With the strain, with the combat week, with media and the whole lot. We received via. I feel it would take a while to course of issues.”
Ngannou mentioned the circumstances across the combat makes the consequence and title victory extra significant than his UFC championship win. Though it wasn’t the stand-up battle some anticipated, Ngannou mentioned he knew he was a extra full fighter than Ferreira and took the trail of least resistance to get his hand raised.
“I may’ve tried to remain in putting and work out who can field higher than who,” Ngannou mentioned. “However on the finish of the day, it’s concerning the win. Although he has good jiu-jitsu, I do know I’ve ok wrestling to regulate his jiu-jitsu and his place on the bottom if I’m on prime.”
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