Francis Ngannou on PFL debut, his greatest victory, retirement plans and leaving nothing in the tank

Ahead of his first MMA fight in over two-and-a-half years, Francis Ngannou remains a man motivated to do what he’s always done - break down barriers and overcome the odds.

Ngannou makes his PFL debut against Brazilian man-mountain Renan Ferreira on October 19 in Saudi Arabia, having signed with the promotion following a protracted contract dispute with the UFC.

After becoming one of the company’s biggest stars, Ngannou took a stand on issues such as fighter pay, health insurance and sponsorship, but the parties couldn’t come to an agreement.

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That saw him sign an historic deal with the PFL, which also allowed him to compete in boxing, and subsequently nearly pull off the unthinkable as he came within a whisker of beating Tyson Fury on his professional debut, scoring a knockdown on “The Gypsy King” in the process.

Now 38, Ngannou admits he may only have a few years of competition left, but the man who departed the UFC as its reigning heavyweight champion doesn’t want to leave anything on the table.

“I always say, I’m going to leave the sport before the sport leaves me,” Ngannou told Sporting News.

“The day that I wake up, maybe because I’m sore from last night and don’t feel like leaving my bed to go to the gym, I think that will be a callout.

“I do give myself maybe three to four more years, I’m expecting to retire around 41, 42.

“That’s my expectation, it could be sooner, I don’t know but it’s all about giving what’s in me.

“I would like to keep pushing my limits, I would like to be determined, I would like to be responsible of my commitment when I sign up for something, I stand by it and give everything to make it happen.

“I think that’s my main goal in life, overall. Everything that I’ve had came from that.”

It’s an attitude that took him from sand mines in Cameroon and homelessness in Paris to the top of the combat sports world in a story worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster.

Despite racking up a slew of highlight-reel knockouts in the UFC, Ngannou was, and remains, so disillusioned with the company, he rates his best win against the context of his dispute with the MMA powerhouse.

“My best win, it’s a little complicated, if it’s like spectacle, I would say Alistair Overeem,” he said.

“If it’s like gameplan and IQ and everything, I would say Stipe Miocic.

“And if it’s like a battle, a life fight… I would say the Gane fight, because that fight wasn’t against Gane, it wasn’t only one fight.

“It was a fight against an entire system, against media, against haters, against everything.

“I wasn’t fighting Ciryl Gane that night. That’s why, after that night, I think I won everything.”

That January 2022 victory over the Frenchman saw Ngannou retain the UFC heavyweight title but would be his last fight with the company.

Many doubters suggested Ngannou had made the wrong decision, or “fumbled the bag”, but back-to-back boxing bouts against Fury and Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia, as well as a lucrative deal with the PFL, suggest he was right to back himself.

And Ngannou isn’t the only one who’s benefiting from his move.

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As part of his contract, Ferreira, and any future opponents, will be paid $2 million to face the knockout sensation.

“Coming from the position that I was at before, I decided that I was in the position to speak for fighters. At least for my fight and for my opponent,” Ngannou said of Ferreira’s pay.

“It is important to know that everyone is living happily.

“I have been in that position so many times and if somebody could have done that for me, I would have very much appreciated it… that would have helped me a lot in my life.

“Once I was in that position, I wasn’t letting anything slip through my fingers.”

In his final years with the UFC, Ngannou was sidelined for long periods, unable to secure a fight, with Jon Jones among the names he was chasing.

Current interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has been vocal in pursuing a fight with “Bones” in recent times but is also getting nowhere.

Ngannou, however, puts the blame squarely with the UFC, rather than Jones.

“My issue was over three years, just trying to have a fight against anybody,” Ngannou explained.

“Jon Jones has never been my only option or obsession. ‘I want to fight Jon Jones, or nothing.’ Never.

“It was because of the UFC. Any fight that happens there, it’s because of the UFC and any fight that doesn’t happen, it’s because of the UFC, that’s it.

“They are the guy in between. They are the guy that's controlling everything.

“They are the guy that controls the conversations. Speak to this guy alone and speak to that guy in the other room and nobody knows exactly what the other guy says, you only know what they tell you.”

Now, as the master of his own destiny, Ngannou is eagerly awaiting a return to the sport in which he made his name.

“I think [Ferreira] is the one that should be excited about me, I’m the man,” he said.

“Although I’m excited about the fight. I’m excited to return to MMA, I’m excited to get back into the cage and have that feeling again.”