“Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside of them; a desire, a dream, a vision.” Muhammad Ali was on to something when he said these lines. And today the 38-year-old PFL Super Fights Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou knows what it means. ‘The Predator’ is someone who has not just fought inside the gym, the Octagon, or the squared circle; he has fought against the odds of life, literally crossing deserts and oceans to get to where he is today.

The former UFC and current PFL heavyweight champion has one of the most inspiring stories of overcoming the odds that began in the impoverished African nation of Cameroon. His strength was forged with immense real-life hardships since childhood and as a result, he has beat not just adversities but also some of the most dangerous fighters in the world.  Recently, Joe Rogan and his guest Bert Sorin narrowed in on Ngannou’s incredible journey which might have been the reason why he defeated Renan Ferreira despite losing to Tyson Fury.

Joe Rogan recalls Ngannou’s grit in Tyson Fury boxing match

Francis Zavier Ngannou started training boxing when he was 22 years old – quite a late start for any athlete in professional sports. However, he entered the UFC as a gifted athlete whose life was forged by different battles which took away much of his early years. His family did not have enough money which drove a 10-year-old Ngannou to work at a nearby sand mine. After toiling and laboring for almost a decade, he decided that he had had enough of that life, and was determined to chase his childhood dream of being a boxer. Well, after he successfully made it to France at age 26, he was convinced to pursue MMA by Didier Carmont. One thing that Francis Ngannou can brag about, but not his peers – even in a hundred lifetimes, is this – crossing the Sahara Desert.

One man who acknowledges Francis Ngannou’s fighting spirit, backed by his sheer will to survive is Joe Rogan. In JRE episode #2242 with Bert Sorin, co-owner of Sorinex Exercise Equipment, Rogan remembered the time Ngannou squared up against arguably the greatest heavyweight boxer of the current era Tyson Fury, for 10 rounds. Despite losing via split decision, the bout was closely contested with the Cameroonian having Fury hurt on more than one occasion.

“How about his one boxing fight? He knocks down the heavyweight champion of the world and one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. He hits him with a left hook and drops him, and almost won! Like, I thought he won the decision. [When] it was over, I was like, ‘They are gonna give it to him!’ I think he won the decision. He was battering him in the 8th round, he dropped him in the second.”, Rogan recalled, after summarising the heavyweight champion’s arduous journey to combat sports superstardom.

Joe Rogan was not the only one who thought that Ngannou won, as many fans thought the same. Sorin added how, owing to the immense adversities that the heavyweight phenom faced in his 20s, Ngannou is extremely efficient along with his gift of genetics. If there was any athlete whose life could be documented in a movie or TV series, Francis Ngannou’s story is worth telling. Crossing continents and oceans to escape difficult circumstances, while facing additional hurdles along the way; like walking through forests and deserts, while being rounded up by authorities would break any regular human being. Not Francis Ngannou, as he went from being a homeless refugee to becoming one of the greatest athletes in heavyweight fighting history.

Throwback: when Francis Ngannou crossed literal oceans to become a fighter

The Cameroonian was hungry and determined to fulfill his dream of becoming a combat sports athlete and escaping life in the sand mines of Batié, Cameroon. People find it hard to immigrate to Europe despite having a passport. Francis Ngannou did so with virtually no financial help, and what a grueling journey this was. ‘The Predator’ made it from Cameroon to Morocco on the northern tip of Africa after a near-impossible trek on foot. After that, another hurdle was waiting for him when he had to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. He revealed all of this in his documentary from PFL and the man is truly a hero.

“The crossing from Morocco to Spain was the toughest one. It took me almost one year, multiple attempts – six attempts in the ocean and then four attempts on the fences [to get to Europe]… So I finally made it [on] the seventh time – in the seventh attempt in the ocean,” he said. But crossing to Spain was just the first challenge. Thereon, his ordeal continued as the first thing that happened to him after making it to Europe was incarceration. Since he crossed the border illegally, the Spanish authorities had put him in jail for two months. Finally, when he did make it to Paris, he was completely exhausted, penniless, and on the verge of succumbing to the struggle. Thankfully he found a boxing trainer who allowed him to live in his gym, and the rest is history.

Ten years later, ‘The Predator’ has quite the tale to tell. From being the heavyweight champion in the biggest combat sports promotion in the world to facing the highest-level athletes in boxing – he truly turned his life around. His struggles continue to this day, as he lost his most prized possession this year, his 15-month-old baby Kobe Ngannou. After beating Renan Ferreira for the heavyweight title at PFL: Battle of the Giants, he dedicated his victory to his late son.

Francis Ngannou’s story is riddled with hindrances from one chapter to the other, but he is also a man who doesn’t back down when life throws its worst curveballs at him. He is the living embodiment of someone with a ‘never say die’ attitude, and is the flag bearer for MMA and combat sports in the continent of Africa. What do you think of his journey and struggles? Let us know in the comments down below.