Francis Ngannou reflects on PFL title win amid family tragedy: “It was my biggest challenge”

Francis Ngannou made his PFL debut with a heavy heart, and he emerged victorious.

Ngannou went one-on-one with Renan Ferreira for the PFL Super Fights Heavyweight Championship. This was “The Predator’s” first fight since the passing of his son, Kobe.

It didn’t take long for Ngannou to put his opponent on his back with a takedown. He then unloaded some ground-and-pound for the first-round knockout.

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Francis Ngannou on Fighting With Heavy Heart

Francis Ngannou spoke to reporters following his quick and dominant win over Renan Ferreira. “The Predator” admitted that he needed to know if he could still fight following the family tragedy (via MMAFighting).

“It was my biggest challenge in the way that I wasn’t the person that I used to be,” Ngannou said after his win over Renan Ferreira on Saturday. “Coming into this fight, this fight was also a way for me to find out if I can still fight. If I still have it. Something like that.

“If I can deal with this, the pressure, with the fight week, with the media and everything. We got through [it].”

Ngannou said that he realized there isn’t enough time in the world to completely grieve over the loss of his son.

“It was pretty hard,” Ngannou said. “It was hard at any moment from the beginning to the end, but I think it’s one of those things, you ask yourself is it ever going to be over? You think it might never be over. You just might as well learn how to roll 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 there’s enough time for me to do that. I don’t think a lifetime would be enough to grieve. Is it just about keep going? It’s a new way of living that I have to learn.”

Ngannou has received a ton of support from the MMA community throughout the situation. Following his win over Ferreira, UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones heaped praise on “The Predator” for taking care of business.