Daniel Cormier says Francis Ngannou will have to “Channel” emotions correctly in MMA return after son’s death

Former UFC heavyweight champions Daniel Cormier and Francis Ngannou have both experienced unimaginable tragedies during their combat sports careers.

Ngannou is scheduled to return to the MMA cage to make his PFL debut against Renan Ferreira on October 19th in Riyadh. He’ll make his return to MMA just mere months after the tragic death of his son, Kobe, after a medical emergency in Cameroon.

Cormier, who lost his daughter during his freestyle wrestling career, can empathize with the emotions that Ngannou is working through. He believes Ngannou can set aside his grief and put on another signature performance against Ferreira, but it’ll take a lot of personal effort.

Daniel Cormier consoled Francis Ngannou after suffering a similar tragedy

In a recent appearance on the Pound 4 Pound podcast, Cormier spoke about Ngannou’s upcoming fight while enshrouded in grief.

“Francis [Ngannou] and I had a great conversation. And I told him if there’s any time he wants to speak about trying to… because you have to compartmentalize it, it can’t be at the forefront of your mind when you’re trying to accomplish something great,” Cormier said. “It’s impossible, it’s so hard. When my daughter passed, and I was getting ready for the World Championships, I would just cry. If things went wrong in practice, I would just cry. I had this great sports psychologist at the Olympic Training Center…she taught me how to channel it. That’s what Francis is going to have to do…

“He’s going to have to find a way to channel all of the emotion that he feels, daily, and apply it to his training, his goals, and his expectation of himself,” Cormier continued. “Because honestly, man, it’s hard to truly expect the best, when all you’re doing is hurting. Literally you’re hurting every day to even get out of bed. But you know, that you’re trying to build a life.”

Ngannou hasn’t fought in MMA since defeating Ciryl Gane by unanimous decision at UFC 270. It was his lone UFC heavyweight title defense before splitting from the UFC in 2023 after a long, strenuous contract dispute.