On Saturday, Francis Ngannou stood inside the MMA cage with tears in his eyes after a first-round knockout win. The emotion was not due to the fact that he was competing for the first time since 2022, but due to the fact that all he could think of was his late son Kobe, who passed away at 15 months old in April. Ngannou’s debut in the Professional Fighters League in Saudi Arabia was an occasion of somber reflection for the former UFC star as he dedicated the KO win to his son.

The tragic demise of Kobe’s death was reported in April with many details unknown. Ngannou did make a social media post conveying his grief but didn’t share much. However, three months later he revealed what happened to his son and how it “hurt” him.

What happened to Francis Ngannou’s son?

Ngannou’s debut in PFL came after a lot of anticipation and after he secured the win, the former UFC Champion remembered his son. He said if it were not for Kobe, he wouldn’t have been here on the night. Less than six months after losing his son, Ngannou was standing tall in an MMA cage, carrying the weight of the tragedy that befell him.

Back in July, Ngannou talked to Joe Rogan about what happened with his son and detailed how he received the news of his passing. Talking on the Joe Rogan Experience MMA Show, Francis Ngannou said, “He has some malformation on his brain, which is something that we didn’t know. He passed out twice. The first time was in Cameroon. We took him to the hospital. They didn’t find anything. The second time was in [Saudi Arabia], we took him to the hospital. They ran a lot of exams; they didn’t do anything.”

‘The Predator’ further revealed that the doctors in Saudi Arabia believed that his son had a swollen lung. So as a result, they gave him some medicines that made Ngannou confident that everything would be just fine. He said, “After all those exams, they gave him some medicine, that he’s going to be OK. Nothing to worry about. Because at first, they even thought about asthma. They gave, like, a ventilator, and then afterward, after some research, they took it out. It [made me] confident.”

Assured that his son was getting the right diagnosis and treatment, Ngannou ended up leaving his home in Cameroon to travel to Dubai, which is where he was training at the time. In Dubai, Ngannou started training as usual and revealed, “mental-wise, I’m not doing bad,” and that “Life is good.” But tragedy struck shortly leaving the fighter devastated.

He mentioned that he wanted to talk to his son so he called his mother but couldn’t reach her. Then when he was training on the leg machine, he received a call from his brother. “He said, ‘Bro, things are not going well here.’ I’m like, ‘What is it?’ [He said,] ‘Kobe, he passed out, he’s not breathing, we are at the hospital, they kicked me out from the room.’ I’m like, ‘What’s happening?’ As we are talking, he’s also trying to get information, so I lost him for like three or four minutes.”

When he called his brother again to get further updates on his son’s health, Ngannou heard the nurse inform his brother that his son had passed away.

“[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 kid was 15 months [old], he was bigger than 15 months. He was growing. He was the most joyful, happy kid around. What do you mean he’s gone? Gone where? That was it,” a heartbroken Ngannou revealed.

He later shared the devastating news of his son’s death on Instagram on April 29. He uploaded a photo with the text, “Too soon to leave, but yet he’s gone. My little boy, my mate, my partner Kobe.”

Ngannou had experienced hardships growing up, losing his father when he was only 15 years old. While he had little control over the circumstances back then when it came to his son, he tried to give him the best possible medical care, but ultimately it couldn’t save Kobe.

“That hurt. That hurt a lot,” he admitted. The pain from the loss continues to linger for Ngannou as he told Rogan, “You get back in the apartment and see all his toys, the stuff that he was playing [with], the things that you took from him the other day and put here, it’s right there but he’s not there anymore and will never be there anymore.”

Despite this shattering loss, Ngannou carried the spirit of his late son as he returned to competition on Saturday. On his PFL debut, he defeated Brazilian Renan Ferreira via a first-round knockout. Afterward, he dedicated the win to Kobe.

Teary-eyed Ngannou remembers son after emotional win

After landing a barrage of punches to win the fight with 88 seconds left in the first round, Ngannou was visibly emotional as he remembered his son. The fighter said,  “I hope they can remember his name, because without Kobe, we wouldn’t be here tonight. I wouldn’t have (fought).”

Before the fight, Ngannou talked about his son to CNN as “a brave guy,” before adding, “He came as a king and he left as a king. He was just something special. For some reason, he couldn’t live longer. I had to look at him so many times and was impressed. I couldn’t believe he was from me.”

Ngannou also mentioned how the fight was a way for him to find out if he could still go in the cage and deal with the pressure of handling a fight week.

On the professional front, Ngannou would hope that his PFL debut would mark a turning point for him and the organization that hopes to compete with UFC. Getting an established former UFC Champion on their roster, is surely a shot in the arm for PFL and they will look to build from here.