Where Is Francis Ngannou From? Ethnicity, Nationality, Birthplace, and Everything You Need to Know About Ex-UFC Star’s Heritage

Most fans will probably rate the noted former UFC heavyweight champ, Francis Ngannou, among the most elite UFC athletes of all time. With his fearsome punches, Ngannou was definitely one of the most formidable UFC fighters in the history of the promotion. But his exit from the UFC was a rather unruly one. Almost every fan might have loved to witness ‘The Predator’ continuing his dominant run in the UFC.

But when it comes to working for what he wants, Ngannou doesn’t mind taking the road not taken. The 37-year-old had one of the most bizarre departures from the UFC because he felt like it was hunting down his “freedom”. Much like his UFC exit, Ngannou’s journey to the UFC also stands as proof of his unbreakable resolve. So let’s take a deeper look at Francis Ngannou’s ethnicity and journey to the UFC to learn some more about the same.

Francis Ngannou comes from a place where nobody even dreamt of fighting in the UFC

A few noted MMA promotions, including the UFC, may be currently applying a lot of stress to scout MMA talents from Africa. But things weren’t the same when Ngannou decided to become a combat sports athlete. ‘The Predator’ has talked about his untoward childhood experiences on a number of noted public platforms, including ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ and ‘Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson’.

A lot of fans may know that Ngannou belongs to an extremely poor family from Batié town in the African country of Cameroon. He was born in 1986 and has also talked about his childhood struggles with poverty and a violent father. Ngannou had to work in a sand mine at just 10 years of age, which was a common practice for most kids in his native place.

But he could never make enough to meet his family’s ends, which propelled him towards becoming a boxer and making loads of money to support his family. However, in Ngannou’s native place, people can’t just become combat sports athletes and make money, even if they put their efforts into it. Ngannou knew that he had to leave his native place and possibly his country if he wanted to materialize his dream.

There’s hardly any other UFC fighter who has struggled more than Francis Ngannou

Ngannou found that his plans to leave the country wouldn’t be enough to materialize his dream. He needed to get to Europe for better opportunities that could help him in his cause. But his family never possessed enough wealth to get to Europe in a legal and documented way.

A YouTube documentary about ‘The Predator’ by the noted MMA documentarian, Partick Gavia, describes his startlingly difficult journey to the UFC. Most people would’ve given up during the experiences that he had to go through in order to gain a “backdoor” entry into Europe. However, the Cameroonian did eventually become a big-money-earning combat sports athlete.

The prime reason for Ngannou’s UFC departure was the denial of his wish to go for boxing matches even while staying contracted to the promotion. Gladly, the 37-year-old eventually managed to get his wish fulfilled after signing with the noted MMA promotion, PFL. He will also take on the noted WBC Heavyweight champ, Tyson Fury in his first-ever boxing match on 28 October in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The prime reason for Ngannou’s UFC departure was the denial of his wish to go to boxing matches even while staying contracted to the promotion. Gladly, the 37-year-old eventually managed to get his wish fulfilled after signing with the noted MMA promotion, PFL. He will also take on the noted WBC heavyweight champ, Tyson Fury, in his first-ever boxing match on October 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Well, now that a large chunk of fans has gained knowledge about Ngannou’s journey to the UFC, most of them may agree that there’s hardly any other fighter who has gone through bigger struggles than ‘The Predator’. Do you know about the journey of any other combat sports athlete that you feel is comparable to ‘The Predator’s’ story?

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