Shock would be a good description of the news that broke on April 28th. That day, 237 Online reported that Francis Ngannou's 15-month-old son Kobe died unexpectedly.

Less than six months after experiencing his parents' worst nightmare,

Ngannou enters the PFL cage to face Renan Ferreira for the PFL Super Fights heavyweight title. For Ngannou, Saturday's fight card is an opportunity for him to show his respect to his son.

“The best way to pay tribute and honor him is to do something positive. “Staying active because that's the best way to pay tribute to him rather than just quitting because if I had stopped fighting it would have been like giving up,” Ngannou told CNN Sport. “It wasn’t the time for me to retire and stop fighting.

“(He was) a brave guy. He came as a king and left as a king. He was just something special. For some reason he couldn't live any longer. I had to watch it so many times and was impressed. I couldn't believe it was mine. He was the best thing that could be in me.

During an appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast earlier this year, Ngannou spoke about his son's death.

“He has a malformation in his brain, which we didn’t know,” Ngannou said. “He fainted twice. The first time was in Cameroon, we took him to the hospital. They found nothing. The second time was in (Saudi Arabia), we took him to the hospital. They did a lot of tests.” They didn't do anything, they didn't do an EEG, they didn't do a (CAT) scan or MRI because they concluded he had a swollen lung that was pressing on his chest and stopping it stopped him from breathing and it created this thing.

“After all these tests, they gave him medicine to get him well again. No need to worry. Because at first they even thought of asthma. They gave him something like a ventilator and then after some research, they took it out. It made me confident.

Believing everything would be okay, Ngannou traveled from Cameroon to Dubai.

“I remember I just came to Dubai and mentally I’m not feeling bad,” Ngannou said. “Life is good. I went to the gym, maybe I should go to the club tonight. I don't go to clubs, I don't go out. I went to the gym to work out. I'm at the back.” I was riding my bike and then I wanted to talk to him, but I called his mother and said, “After I'm done.” “I'll take a shower, get in bed and call him. “ Thirty minutes later I was sitting at the leg machine, my phone rang and it was my little brother.

“He said, 'Brother, things aren't going well here.' I'm like, “What's this?” (He said,) “Kobe, he passed out, he's not breathing, we're in the hospital, they kicked me out of the room.” “As we're talking, he's also trying to get information, so I lost him for about three or four minutes.”

When he reconnected with his brother, Ngannou overheard the nurse telling his brother that Kobe had died.

“(She said,) 'Well, he's gone.' “Just like that. He’s gone,” Ngannou said. “What do you mean he’s gone? How come he's gone? This child was 15 months old, he was bigger than 15 months. He grew. He was the happiest, happiest child ever. What do you mean he’s gone?” Gone where? That's it.

“I thought I was dreaming. I thought they would say that wasn't true. I called again and again and everyone confirmed it. I called my mother, my mother was crying. What the hell is that? That's it.” .”

The death of Ngannou's son came after one of the most lucrative successes of Ngannou's career. After leaving the UFC in early 2023 when he and the promotion couldn't agree on a new contract, Ngannou signed a fighter-friendly deal with the PFL that allowed him to box, among other perks.

At the time, Ngannou said of his UFC deal: “In this contract I am not free. I am not an independent contractor in this agreement. In this contract I have no rights, I have no power. I give. All the best to you, and I have seen how you can use this power in the past.”

Ngannou almost defeated Tyson Fury in October 2023 and then lost by knockout to Anthony Joshua in March 2024.

His fight against Ferreira will be Ngannou's first MMA fight since he won a decision over Ciryl Gane in January 2022 to retain the UFC heavyweight title.

The PFL made the fight between Ngannou and Ferreira official in August.

After the duel was announced, Ngannou told USA Today, “I've loved fighting since I was a kid, since before I could walk, I could live again.”

“This fight could really make me feel like I’m alive,” Ngannou added. “Be that in the environment that comes to mind. Not that I'll forget what happened. I will (never) forget the loss of my child, my boy, but maybe you can still have that feeling. Connect with this place, yours, where you belong.

The PFL Battle of the Giants will take place on Saturday, October 19th at Mayadeen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The main card streams at 4:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+ pay-per-view, followed by prelims at 1:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

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