Francis Ngannou’s coach shares emotional pre-fight team conversation before PFL debut win

Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou had an internal fight hours before making his highly-anticipated return to the cage in his PFL debut.

Ngannou defeated 2023 PFL heavyweight title winner Renan Ferreira in the Battle of the Giants main event last weekend in Riyadh. After almost three full years away from MMA, Ngannou looked dominant in his return, finishing Ferreira in the first round.

But, it was a long, winding road for Ngannou to get back to doing what he loves. Earlier this year, Ngannou’s son Kobe passed away due to a brain malformation.

Ngannou dedicated his long-awaited MMA return to his late son Kobe. Just hours before the Ferreira fight, Ngannou questioned whether or not he’d be able to use his emotions and grief in a positive way inside the cage.

Coach Eric Nicksick talks “intense” hours before Francis Ngannou’s MMA comeback

In a recent interview on The Ariel Helwani Show, coach Eric Nicksick shared an emotional pre-fight meeting with Ngannou just hours before making his MMA return.

“We had a little family gathering before we left for the venue, and it was intense,” Nicksick said of Ngannou’s pre-fight routine. “There was like 10, 15 family members and the team. We’re all in a little meeting room, and we’re singing songs, saying prayers…and then Francis spoke, and it got really emotional, man. I don’t want to go into details, but there were a lot of emotions riding right before we left to go to the venue. That’s very different, I wouldn’t recommend that for a title fight…just seeing him win and seeing him get over that hump that he needed to do…

“There was so much invested, so much riding on the line. That morning, Francis said to me right before: ‘Bubba, I’m nervous, man. I feel like I have a lot of added pressure on me’,” Nicksick continued on Ngannou. “And I don’t know if that was him putting more pressure on [himself] to perform the way that he did, but I just think there was a lot riding on it…I’d take three months off and just keep healing. There’s so many options out there for him right now, but the biggest battle for him is just to keep healing his heart. That’s it.”

Before his PFL debut win, Ngannou made back-to-back boxing appearances against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. He parted ways from the UFC in 2023.