Fighter rises from homelessness to the UFC
Fighter overcomes poverty in African, homelessness in France
The Gross Domestic Product per capita in the former French colony of Cameroon was last recorded at $1309.33 in 2015. And that is the average. If you are poor, it is lots less. That is living on less than $3.50 per day – food, shelter, clothing, everything.
Francis Ngannou knew who Mike Tyson was, and moved to France, with the hope of making it in boxing.
I was struggling, said Ngannou to John Morgan for MMAjunkie. I left Cameroon just to try and have a life, to survive. When I was in Cameroon, I just didn’t see a way. I could survive, but that’s about it.
France too proved to be without much opportunity – Ngannou was homeless. Then one day he walked into Paris’ MMA Factory, and inquired about learning mixed martial arts.
MMA Factory owner Fernand Lopez saw the potential in the 6-4, 250-pound acolyte, and gave him two bags of clothes and gear. When Ngannou asked if he could leave his new belongings at the gym for safekeeping, Lopez said he could stay at the gym, and sought to find him lodgings.
On November 30, 2013, Ngannou had his first MMA fight, winning via submission in the first Two weeks later he fought again, and lost a decision. But he won the next four, and that got him into the UFC. There he won two more, and is now just outside the top 15.
The first two fights in the UFC do not make you a rich man, at all. But Ngannou is already giving back.
I want to give some opportunity for children like me who dream of this sport and don’t have an opportunity like me, he said. The last time I was in Cameroon, I brought a lot of materials for boxing and MMA to open a gym. Now I just bought a big space to start the gym, as well.
A lot of children now in Cameroon, because of me, they have a dream. They say, ‘I will be a champion in MMA. I will do boxing like Francis,’ because they saw me when I was young. I didn’t have anything. I didn’t have any opportunity. And today, they see me, and they are dreaming. They are thinking that something is possible. Even when they are so poor, something is possible in life. … It’s not easy. It’s so hard, but it’s possible.”
I used to dream big, and now the opportunities to fulfill my dreams are coming quickly. My goal now is to be the heavyweight champion.
Francis Ngannou fights Bojan Mihajlovic on Saturday at UFC on FOX 20 / UFC on Fox: Holm vs. Shevchenko at United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
Check out a training montage here: