Francis Ngannou almost withdrew from the Renan Ferreira fight Saturday in Saudi Arabia because of injury, his head coach Eric Nicksick told MMA Junkie in the aftermath of one of the best wins of the fighter’s combat sports career.
Ngannou destroyed Ferreira to show the entire industry that he’s as dangerous in an MMA fight as he seemingly ever was, even though he’s been away from the sport due to a two-fight stint in boxing, and has been mourning the tragic loss of his 15-month old son, Kobe.
The road to his comeback was by no means smooth, Nicksick said, for Ngannou seemingly considered pulling out of the PFL MMA fight.
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Francis Ngannou Suffered Injury in Camp
The injury was so bad he contemplated pulling out
Ngannou has suffered injury during camps before, in the build-up to critical competitions — just like many athletes have. However, this one, was different, according to Nicksick, who said an injured rib almost derailed the event.
“It was bad enough to where you’ve got to think: He blew out his knee and wasn’t going to pull out of the Ciryl Gane fight,” said Nicksick to MMA Junkie, adding that Ngannou did not withdrew from the Gane, or the Ferreira fight — but almost did.
“There’s a difference, different stakes, but also it was a different type of pain for him, and obviously we had a grappling-heavy game plan.”
Ngannou had concerns that if he was on his back, he may not be able to grapple efficiently with the rib injury. A trip to the hospital, and an MRI scan which cleared the injury, was enough to alleviate any concerns Ngannou had, Nicksaid said.
“He realized, ‘I’m going to be OK. I’m going to get through this still’.”
Nicksick said that moment was when a “weight lifted off his shoulders.”
He added: “I think that was a lot of my emotional reaction when he won the fight. I just wanted to get in there and be with my boy. He’s been through a lot, and more than I think a lot of us will ever know. It’s just an unimaginable set of events that occurred.”
“Not only that, but coming back and winning in the fashion that he won – it’s just a lot of emotions.”
One of the narratives at play for this fight, said Nicksick, was one in which Ngannou was consumed with self-doubt. He doubted whether he still had it (“it,” being world-conquering ability), there was a brutal loss to Anthony Joshua, and an even greater loss due to the passing of his son.
Nicksick, though, never had any doubts, he said.
“Seeing the emotions that he’s had the last six months, and not only that, even going back to the Anthony Joshua fight – a lot of questioning. It was heavy. It was just heavy. There wasn’t a lot being said. I just told him I loved him, gave him a big old hug and just wanted to be there with him and support him.”
He continued: “He was questioning himself all the way – even up until the day of the fight.”
Nicksick had a message for Ngannou.
That message was this:
“There’s no other person in the world that I’ve met that has the courage and resiliency that you have. And if there’s anybody that can get through some sort of adversity, it’s going to be you. I don’t know what it is about God or fate or the universe that they put things in front of you. They put things in front of you because they want to see you get through it.”
It is unclear if, or when, Ngannou will return. His pro MMA record stands at 18 wins (13 KOs, 4 submissions) against three losses.
