Francis Ngannou went through perhaps the worst thing any human can- the death of a child. ‘The Predator’ became a proud father for the first time to a baby boy named Kobe, whom he would describe as “full of life and joy” last year. But on the dark day of April 27 of this year, Kobe tragically passed away, leaving Ngannou listless and struggling to come to terms with it.

And to honor his late son, the former UFC heavyweight champion has tattooed his name on his left bicep, which was revealed for the first time as Ngannou took the scale to weigh in for his PFL debut on October 19. Not that the Cameroonian would have needed the tattoo to remind him of his son. But who can forget or ever truly move on from watching their child, especially one so young and full of life, pass away so abruptly and suddenly?

Kobe’s passing came as a sledgehammer blow to Ngannou who didn’t even know his son suffered from an undiagnosed brain malformation. The infant, according to Ngannou, had fainted before on two occasions in his fifteen months on earth, but the doctors at a Cameroonian and a Saudi Arabian hospital failed to detect the malformation in Kobe’s brain.

“I thought I was dreaming and I thought they were going to say that’s not true. I kept calling again and everybody confirmed it,” Ngannou would recall later in an interview. But, despite this massive personal tragedy, the PFL heavyweight is determined to keep fighting if only to honor his son.

Francis Ngannou sees the rest of his fighting career as a tribute to his late son

If Francis Ngannou had decided to take a hiatus from fighting to recover from the trauma of Kobe’s death, no one would have batted an eye. But Ngannou’s whole life has been him overcoming extremely difficult situations. Of course, there is no question of ever overcoming his son’s death, as he has admitted, the Cameroonian is determined to not give up on life or his career. After all, he wants everyone to know that Kobe’s father may be many things, but he’s not a quitter.

“The best way to pay tribute to him, to honor him, is to do something positive. To keep staying active because that’s the best way to pay tribute to him instead of just quit because, if I stop fighting, that would have been like quitting,” Ngannou would say defiantly.

And ‘The Predator’ followed through on his promise to keep active. To this end he will face PFL 2023 heavyweight tournament champion Renan Ferreira on the PFL: Battle of the Giants card on October 19 in Saudi Arabia. But no fight will ever come close to the one that is undoubtedly happening inside Ngannou every day. What are your thoughts on Francis Ngannou’s tattoo?