When everything was going in the right direction in Francis Ngannou‘s career, the fighter was struck by the heartwrenching passing away of his 15-month-old son, Kobe. Ngannou even considered retiring from fighting altogether but had to reconsider due to his commitments. Predator’ is finally making a comeback to the Octagon against Renan Ferreira, but recent mistranslated comments by his opponent about his son’s passing had the entire MMA community in fumes.

Back in April, this year, Francis Ngannou dropped a major update of his life. The former UFC heavyweight champion revealed that his son, Kobe sadly passed away. Ngannou took to all of his socials to communicate with his fans. ‘Predator’ stayed away from the media for quite some time but as he had to fight, he came back. Regardless, Renan Ferreira’s insensitive comments have been taken into consideration by a UFC insider, who believes this could be interesting.

UFC legend provides his opinion on Renan Ferreira and Francis Ngannou’s press conference debate

At the press conference, ‘Predator’ broke down as he talked about his son. “I have questioned if I have to continue or if I should just hang up the gloves. But then I realized that should be a purpose for me you know,” said Ngannou as he held back his tears.  A huge round of applause came from the audience, who were there to listen to the fighters. However, everything went silent when Ferreira made a rather insensitive comment. Through his translator, Ferreira stated that he would give Ngannou a hard time, “[Ngannou] has been going through a tough year in his life, but the toughest challenge in his life and in his year is gonna be me. I’m gonna be the biggest problem of his year right now.”

This statement by the Brazilian fighter shocked the entire MMA world due to the crass behaviour as many thought that he crossed the line. However, UFC legend, Chael Sonnen believes that things are starting to heat up now, “Francis lost a child, and that’s a very tough subject. That’s very, very tough stuff. I went through the same thing. I lost a child, so it’s a very rare club, but I’m in that club with him. The slightest mention of something like that will have an effect. It will have an effect on you, and you can’t get around it. It’s not a human nature of being stronger or tougher. It will have an effect on you, I’ll leave it at that, but it will,” said Sonnen on his YouTube handle. 

He further added, “At today’s press conference, Problemo, about eight minutes ago, through an interpreter, told Francis, “You have had a hard year. I am aware of your problems and your struggles, and that’s very tough, but the toughest thing you’re going to have this year is me.” If you ever weren’t interested in that fight, I tell you that story because I firmly believe you are now.”

Francis Ngannou will be stepping back inside the Octagon after his last clash against Ciryl Gane back in UFC 270. ‘Predator’ has been indulged in boxing after he departed from UFC. Well, after fighting twice in boxing, Ngannou is returning to the MMA scene in October against Fereirra. This single statement has made this match a must-watch for many fans. It must be noted that Sonnen is not the only one who believes this would be a big fight.

PFL boss Peter Murray weighs down on Ngannou vs.Ferreira as the biggest fight

Taking in Francis Ngannou after he was released by the UFC was probably one of the biggest wins of PFL. Ngannou’s emergence in PFL has single-handedly increased the ratings of the promotion to astronomical numbers and his first match under their banner would mean a very big thing for them. The PFL bossman was so excited that he believed that Ngannou’s MMA return was bigger than Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall’s fights.

While having a conversation with Bloddy Elbow, Peter Murray stated, “This is the biggest heavyweight fight in MMA of the year. [The Jones and Aspinall situation] is their business but I think it speaks volumes. Francis is the heavyweight MMA champion of the world and we’re now going to see what he has. I don’t think he’s lost a step but we’ll see. He’s in top condition but Renan Ferreira is there and it’s nothing but respect that you see Francis giving Renan. We’ve seen what Renan can do, he’s young, big, and strong and this is the battle of the giants, but the subtext is ‘brace for impact’.”

Their fight might prove to be the biggest in the heavyweight division. Regardless, what’s your take on their clash? State your thoughts in the comments below.