Francis Ngannou has gone from fighting for free to earning £10million in his next outing against Tyson Fury nine years later. He may be about to square off against the best heavyweight boxer of his generation this weekend but the Cameroonian MMA star has faced far bigger challenges in life.
Following an arduous 14-month journey from Cameroon to France, a homeless Francis slept rough in a car park while he looked for a boxing gym to train at. Ngannou trained in both MMA and boxing but was advised to focus on the former as it lent more opportunities.
In 2013, he made his professional MMA debut and just three years later he was signed by the sport’s premier promotion, the UFC, where he went on to become the company’s heavyweight champion. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. In the lead-up to his big break, the Predator fought two fights on the same night but didn’t earn a single dime for either of them.
“I fought two fights in a tournament but I didn’t get paid,” said Ngannou. “That was supposed to be my last MMA fight and then I would move on to boxing, but I lost and my ego wouldn’t let me quit.
“Six months later there was another tournament and I was paid €2,000 in cash, 100 bills of €20 euros in an envelope and I put it under the mattress. I’ll get bags of money now!”
“I have climbed a lot of mountains in my life,” he added. “The people I fought in MMA to become champion had been doing combat sports since they were kids so I’m not afraid of mountains. Tyson would be a fool not to believe in me.”
Despite Ngannou’s insistence for Fury to write him off at his own peril, the Gypsy King doesn’t appear to be taking much notice. “He couldn’t beat me if he had a machete and a nine-millimetre gun in his hands,” said Fury.
“How is he going to beat me, please? It’s alright me saying this is a 50-50 fight, is it bollocks a 50-50 fight. I’m going to take him to school and I’m going to show him what a right hand feels like. He’s going to be like, ‘Oh my God, did I just get knocked out?’
“I intend to punish him for a little while, enjoy it, and put on a show then bang, chin him. He might be as tough as bricks, he’s never been stopped, but he’s never been hit by a proper boxing puncher.”
