Francis Ngannou: the Cameroonian UFC heavyweight champion | Ultimate Fighter Reunion

Why fans still care

FRANCIS NGANNOU is known for his punching power. Fourteen of his 19 MMA wins came by knockout, several inside a minute, and he has never been stopped in MMA.

His road to the title ran from a quarry in Cameroon, through North Africa and Spain, to Paris.

Early life

He was born on 5 September 1986 and grew up in Batié, a village of a few thousand people in Cameroon. The family had no television and the village had no boxing gym. He started working in a sand quarry at about 10. As a boy he wanted to be a professional heavyweight like Mike Tyson, Who’s Who number 34 in · Ultimate Boxing Reunion, and his brothers and sisters called him “American Boy”, a nickname his mother banned.

Getting started

In his 20s he left Cameroon on a 14-month journey through Nigeria and Morocco to Spain, where he spent two months in jail for crossing the border by sea. He reached Paris with no money, friends or home, and was homeless for a time. He trained free at a boxing club, and was then introduced to Fernand Lopez at the MMA Factory. Accounts differ on who made the introductions. He made his professional MMA debut on 30 November 2013 with a first-round armbar of Rachid Benzina, lost a decision to Zoumana Cisse two weeks later, and then won five straight in France, Switzerland and Bahrain.

Career chapters

1. 2013Turns professional in Paris
2. 2015UFC debut, a knockout of Luis Henrique
3. 2017Knocks out Alistair Overeem, ESPN’s Knockout of the Year
4. 2018Loses to Stipe Miocic and Derrick Lewis, then moves to Xtreme Couture
5. 2021Knocks out Miocic to win the UFC heavyweight title
6. 2023Leaves the UFC, signs with the PFL and drops Tyson Fury in his boxing debut
7. 2024Wins the first PFL Super Fights heavyweight title
8. 2026Knocks out Philipe Lins after 19 months out

Into the UFC 2015 to 2017

He made his UFC debut on 19 December 2015 with a second-round knockout of Luis Henrique. He then stopped Curtis Blaydes, Bojan Mihajlović, Anthony Hamilton and Andrei Arlovski. On 2 December 2017 at UFC 218 in Detroit he blocked a wide left from Alistair Overeem, Who’s Who number 2, defended a takedown and knocked him out with an uppercut at 1:42 of the first round. ESPN named it the 2017 Knockout of the Year, and CBS Sports ranked it No. 1. That month a PowerKube machine at the UFC Performance Institute recorded his punch at 129,161 units, reported as a possible world record.

Two losses 2018

On 20 January 2018 at UFC 220 in Boston he challenged Stipe Miocic, Who’s Who number 4 for the heavyweight title and lost a five-round decision. In July he lost a decision to Derrick Lewis. Soon after, he became a fixture at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas under the head coach Eric Nicksick.

Champion 2018 to 2023

He came back with four first-round finishes in a row: Blaydes, Cain Velasquez in 26 seconds, Junior dos Santos, Who’s Who number 15, and Jairzinho Rozenstruik in 20 seconds. In camp for the Miocic rematch, Nicksick had him wrestle in every session. On 27 March 2021 at UFC 260 Miocic took his back in the first round, but in the second a left hook dropped Miocic and Ngannou finished him at 0:52 to win the title. On 22 January 2022 at UFC 270 he beat Ciryl Gane on a unanimous decision, the only decision win of his career. His coach later said he fought with a badly damaged knee, and he had surgery in March 2022.

Leaving the UFC 2023

Talks on a new contract failed, and on 14 January 2023 Dana White, Who’s Who number 42 (story coming soon) announced the UFC had stripped him of the title and released him. White said the UFC’s offer would have made him the highest-paid heavyweight in its history. Ngannou said money was not the main issue. He wanted health insurance, sponsor rights and an advocate for fighters. In May 2023 he signed with the PFL on a deal that let him box, guaranteed his opponents US$2 million, and gave him an equity role in PFL Africa.

Boxing and the PFL 2023 to 2026

Mike Tyson joined his camp in July 2023. On 28 October 2023 in Riyadh, in his first professional boxing fight, he dropped Tyson Fury, Who’s Who number 17 in · Ultimate Boxing Reunion with a left hand in the third round and lost a split decision, 94-95, 96-93, 95-94. In March 2024 Anthony Joshua knocked him out in the second round. In April 2024 he announced the death of his 15-month-old son, Kobe. On 19 October 2024 in Riyadh he knocked out Renan Ferreira from back mount in the first round to win the first PFL Super Fights heavyweight title. The PFL parted ways with him in March 2026. On 16 May 2026 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, after 19 months out, he knocked out Philipe Lins with a left hook in the first round.

Style, technique and the corner

How he fights

UFC.com lists his style as striker. He is 6 ft 4 with an 83-inch reach (UFC.com), and as of his last UFC fight he averaged 1.22 knockdowns per 15 minutes and defended 72 per cent of takedowns. His finishes came from uppercuts, hooks and short shovel punches, often in the first round. After the 2018 losses he added wrestling and patience: against Miocic in 2021 the plan was to make the champion “panic-wrestle”, and against Gane he won with his own takedowns in the later rounds. For his boxing debut Mike Tyson drilled heavyweight fundamentals, telling him power only matters if it lands.

Teams and gyms

He started in MMA at the MMA Factory in Paris under Fernand Lopez. From 2018 he trained at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas under Eric Nicksick, and Randy Couture, Who’s Who number 27 sits with him on the PFL’s Global Advisory Board. Dewey Cooper was named as his coach in 2023, and Mike Tyson joined his camp for the Fury fight.

Stories people still tell

1. American Boy.

   His brothers and sisters called him “American Boy” for his dream of boxing like Mike Tyson. In 2023 Tyson trained him.

2. The punch.

   In 2017 his punch registered 129,161 units on a PowerKube machine, reported as a possible world record.

3. Home.

   In January 2019 his foundation opened the first MMA gym in Cameroon, in Batié. “This is where I belong,” he said.

Legacy

He won the UFC heavyweight title in 2021, left the company as champion, and pushed for better terms for fighters along the way. He never lost an MMA fight inside the distance, and his boxing debut against Tyson Fury surprised the sport. Israel Adesanya, Who’s Who number 23 said his PFL deal made “a big ripple in the game”.